The Snow Theater

From Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner Ryoji Arai comes a gorgeous picture book about a child learning to accept mistakes, while having a magical experience in the wild, beautiful snow.

Selected for USBBY’s Outstanding International Books List, 2026!
One of BookPage’s Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2025!

After accidentally ripping the pages of his father’s favorite book, a pensive, heavy-hearted boy leaves his cozy, warm house to ski through the snow. There, in the quiet and the cold, he stumbles upon a small stage that’s all lit up—a tiny snow theater, with tiny snow people and tiny ballerinas—that soon transforms into a large snow theater, presided over by the majestic snow queen.

As the boy joins the chorus of snow children, the snow queen lifts up her arms and snow falls and falls and falls, until all the boy can see is white—a snowstorm! And it’s at that precise moment that the boy’s father, who let his son go off alone but never lost track of him, is there to take his hand as they return home together.

Originally published in Japan and written and illustrated by one of the country’s most important picture book makers, The Snow Theater is a quietly enchanting tale about the wild beauty of nature, the powers of the imagination, and the unconditional love of a parent for their child.