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Hillenbrand, Will

The Winding Willow

40 pp. | Holiday | September, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9780823459452 $18.99
(2) K-3 Little mouse Hubert (The Voice in the Hollow, rev. 9/23) returns for a second snowy, mysterious tale. This one starts on his return home from shoveling a path to Aunt Nanny Mouse's house. In the soft, moody illustrations, the protagonist appears as a small, vulnerable figure among eerie, towering trees. An atmospheric white outline of a huge transparent bear follows Hubert (who is carrying Aunt Nanny Mouse's gift of fresh-baked bread) through the swirling snow. He finds his way blocked by a giant tree surrounded by a winding staircase, and the tree is full of lost things -- his brother's shoe, the house key, and his father's umbrella. Hubert climbs up to retrieve the objects, and the art depicts the scene from various perspectives, building tension. At the top, a large, hungry owl waits. A perilous flight ensues, but the mouse's ultimate safety appears to have something to do with that atmospheric bear and its companions. Meanwhile, "He lost everything": Hubert falls back to earth and the objects scatter on the page. However, when he gets home, the missing key is in his front door, there's toast made from Aunt Nanny Mouse's bread, his brother is putting on his shoe, and the umbrella is safely in its stand. "'Welcome home,' said his father. 'It looks like you found something'" -- closing the story and prompting readers to wonder what that means exactly and what really happened to Hubert on that curious, visually bewitching afternoon.
Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2025

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