Snow Day!

There's no denying that Sam, Pam, Will and Jill, a quartet of anthropomorphized crocodile children, have hit on an ingenious way to take full advantage of a new snowfall. Posing as principals, they call the local news station and declare a snow day. "All schools are closed!" announces the staff of Croc-O News. "Wheee!" exult Sam, Pam, Will and Jill, a few pages later. "And they sledded and sledded all day." Lakin's text is a model of comic economy, using simple vocabulary and repetition to create an ebullient, punchy rhythm. Nash's gouache-and-pencil pictures, often divided into panels to show simultaneous action among the four protagonists, giddily chronicle the events leading up to the principal ploy: the flurry of phone calls among the friends, the donning of appropriate snow gear, the crushing realization that school presents a formidable obstacle to their sledding. His crocodiles are nearly identical, but therein lies much of the dizzy humor -- every emotion is multiplied times four. Even the typography seems just right, with large, sans-serif letters underscoring the staccato pacing. A seamless work of storytelling about a classic snow job.