Another wonderful week of books with the kids! These two gems stood out.

1. Cold Snap by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
2. Cars: Rushing! Honking! Zooming! by Patricia Hubbell, illustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy.

Cold Snap: A cold snap is taking over the peaceful town of Toby Mills, with temperatures dropping toward zero. For each day of the week, we watch how the town goes from cold to downright freezing. We even watch the icicle hanging from the nose of General Toby’s statue grow all the way down to his toes! In the end, the community weathers the cold by gathering together for a big bonfire and celebrating winter.

JENNY SAYS: Cold Snap is a wonderful story to curl up with during these cold winter months. Children can follow the days of the week, seeing how the icicle on General Toby’s statue continues to grow from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday. While the story is sweet, it is the illustrations that makes this book so wonderful. Marjorie Priceman creates a vivid world wrapped in bold colors that warms up the eyes even as town gets colder.

Cars Rushing! Honking! Zooming!: Written for toddlers and preschoolers, Cars exposes children to all different kinds of cars, including taxis, firetrucks, station wagons and even limousines. The artwork is a mixed media extravaganza offering an “old time” feel with the busyness of present day. The prose seems simple but is jam-packed with information and details about vehicles.

My four year old has read this book every night for a week now. The illustrators’ quirky sense of humor, with dogs driving police cars and flamingos cruising in convertibles, left us giggling and searching each picture for the surprising elements.

JENNY SAYS: Cars offers a ride through the different types of trucks and cars toddlers and preschoolers love. The story is fun to read and action-packed, but the star of the show is the illustrations.

Related articles

• Children’s Books: ‘Cold Snap,’ by Eileen Spinelli, and More (nytimes.com)