Minnesota Prairie Roots

Greg Budig's newest book, Still (A Winter's Journey), published by Stemmer House Publishers.

IF SUB-ZERO TEMPS and too much ice and snow have afflicted you with a bad case of cabin fever, consider an antidote.

And, no, I’m not suggesting an escape to a warmer climate.

Rather, I recommend a walk through the snow, via St. Cloud author and illustrator Greg Budig’s latest children’s picture book, Still (A Winter’s Journey). Budig’s reflection on winter, in poetic words and magical illustrations, will surely lift your spirits.

A native of Morris, Budig certainly understands the weariness of winter as well as any Minnesotan. But he has chosen, in Still, to focus on the appreciative, quiet beauty of the season.

Consider these phrases: “It (snow) sifted through the thin fingered branches of the dark winter trees.” Or: “The thick bellied clouds brushed the round backed hills as they marched over the slowly dissolving horizon.” Budig’s descriptive word choices paint strong imagery of a snowy winter wonderland.

His dreamy landscape paintings, done in acrylic on watercolor paper, further enhance the experience by visually placing the reader in the field, in the woods, along the river bank, imprinting footsteps upon the freshly-fallen snow.

Budig drew his inspiration “from cherished memories of going on long walks on beautifully snowy days,” he says. “I remember the feeling of solitude and peace I had on these walks, the world seemed different under a blanket of fresh snow.”

And once you read Still (A Winter’s Journey), you too will sense that peace, which Budig so successfully transfers from memory onto paper.

For more information about Budig; Still (A Winter’s Journey); his first children’s picture book, I Hear the Wind; and his other artwork, go to www.gregbudig.com.

"...the snow covered each house and garden and filled in the sidewalk that leads to my front door."

"...the flutter of the feeder bound waltzing chickadees..."

"...down by the river made new."

"Our startled eyes locked for only a moment before she melted ghostlike into the cover of the falling snow."

"As if in a dream, I walked down the branch covered pathway and into the nearby woods."

© Copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Illustrations and quoted Still text © Copyright 2009 Greg Budig