A rare thing it is to find a holiday offering for children untethered to the licensed-character marketing beast. Rarer still to find a book that gives shape to the sensibility of a Canadian Christmas without serving up the usual bland casserole, complete with the certainty of a Christmas morning payload for every “good” girl and boy at its end.

While promoted as a “non-denominational book for the holidays,” One Winter Night is quite unattached to the usual seasonal hype, and only hints at the holidays through the use of visual cues (holly, snow, and the colour red). It is the story of 10 mice who venture out to play on the ice. They encounter a variety of animals who scare them back to the security of their nest one by one, until the last remaining mouse must run the gamut of wildlife in reverse in order to make his escape. Told in looping, repetitive verse, the story builds in momentum and concludes in a style similar to that holiday standard “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

Author Jennifer Lloyd, a kindergarten teacher, clearly understands how to write for the ears of small children. She uses rhyme, repetition, and onomatopoeia to great effect. Lynn Ray’s unique and richly hued illustrations complement the book’s design and give the subtle storyline more depth. Like the best picture book illustrators, Ray has enhanced the story without obscuring it – many of the animals who frighten the mice out on the ice wear Canadian emblems and gear for winter sports ranging from skiing to curling. The facing pages, telling a parallel visual story of ants amassing materials for their winter house, contribute to the book’s overall sensory blend.