WINTER WAITS, written by Lynn Plourde, illustrated by Greg Couch, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2001, 32 pages, hardcover, $16.

Lynn Plourde had written her beautiful and eloquent “Wild Child,” a picture book celebrating autumn, personified as a child in a warm, intimate relationship with Mother Earth, as a stand-alone. When I phoned her at her Winthrop home, she said, “I never wanted to write a follow-up. I didn’t want to wreck it. A sequel is not as good as the original.”

Plourde’s readers had other ideas. They picked up on the promise of the last page. Autumn has fallen asleep and winter is just stirring. Winter’s story just had to be told. And children kept asking the author when she’d get around to it.

Then Plourde realized how she could carry over the spirit of the story into a new format. Winter could be shown in a relationship with Father Time instead of Mother Earth. “I was excited by the possibilities,” she said. “I got to continue the story of nature’s family.”

When Mother Earth sees Winter bouncing on his bed, she sends him to see his father. He is only too happy to oblige. But Father Time, like many human parents, has urgent work he can’t put aside. Fortunately, Winter is a resourceful and patient sprite. As he waits, he paints the grass with frost, carves ice sculptures in brooks and waterfalls, and cuts out snowflakes.

When Winter presents him with a perfect snowflake, Father Time is moved to tears. He decides it’s time to play. And do they ever – roughhousing and chuckling til dawn. Cuddling together, they start to drift off to sleep. Finally, in an ending that will be richly satisfying for every parent and child who has suffered from the pressing demands of the outside world, Winter asks if his father has to work again and Father Time replies that he should, but he’d much rather be with his child.

Once again, Plourde’s tender words are fleshed out vividly by Greg Couch’s illustrations. Winter is a lively sprite with icicle hair. He is a study of earnestness as he works on surprises for his beloved father and he beams with pride as he tries to show them off.

The perfect snowflake Winter creates for Father Time is a work of enchantment. Delicate hues of pink are introduced into a palette that has been dominated by shades of blue and gold. And when you can pull your eyes away from its rich symmetry, you will be captivated by the intense, tender looks exchanged by Father Time and his beloved child.

Plourde dedicated “Winter Waits” to her own father.

“He was a wonderful man. He always worked two or three jobs or seventy hours a week on one job, but he always had time for me. He would lie in the middle of the living-room rug and tell us to get him. My brothers and sister and I would laugh and roughhouse.”

Plourde can’t imagine living in a place that doesn’t have four distinct seasons. Although fall is her favorite time of year, she finds

much enchantment in winter. She loves to create snow sculptures and treasures those times when storms leave her family snowbound and released from their daily routines.

“It’s so beautiful! The world gets tucked under a blanket of snow,” she said. “There’s a magic to it. I like to stand and look out the windows. It’s like a gift from nature.”

What a perfect time to share Plourde’s latest gift with your family and anticipate her work yet to come. She has eight books under contract – written and sent to the publisher – including the sequels for spring and summer. She’s polishing a couple of new stories. And she isn’t about to let us down by running out of ideas.