Reading: THE FROG AT THE WINDOW - Scott Langteau (author), Michaela Brannon (illustrator)

Prose (Story): In a lushly-illustrated picture book, Katy and her parents leave to spend the Christmas holiday at Grandma's house just in time for a smart, cold little frog to move into their warmly-decorated home in their place - a move that inspires a forestful of other creatures to do the same to beat the cold. Soon the beleaguered frog has more roommates than he can handle, and before the house gets ruined tries to pull his new "friends" together to enjoy the holiday ... and get the heck out again before Katy and her family get back! 

Don's (Review): The warmth and beauty on every page, thanks to Michaela Brannon's colorful, old-world, Christmassy illustrations, highlight a sweet and funny tale about learning to work together, but also the spirit of Christmas that can be found in kindness and generosity. The part when the gang of animals has to improvise what they're doing there, when a couple of people are spotted looking through the living room window at them, is nothing short of hilarious, but the entire book - for what is a new story - evokes a classic, old-world charm and cocoa-with-marshmallows kind of feel reminiscent of watching Miracle on 34th Street or It's a Wonderful Life on TV on Christmas Eve. A gorgeous, heartwarming read.  4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.