PUPPIES IN THE SNOW, written and illustrated by Helen Earle Simcox, Windswept House Publishers, Mount Desert, 1997, 48 pages, paperback, $8.95.

“Read the puppy book,” Adam, 3, demands. We’ve read it so often he has it memorized. But he never fails to sigh with delight or to request, “Again, please,” when we get to the last page.

It’s easy to see why he cherishes Helen Earle Simcox’s “Puppies in the Snow” so. It’s a book that should appeal to every young child who loves or longs for a special pet. It’s also a treasure for a parent seeking a soothing story to help a youngster make the transition from daytime bounce to bedtime drowsy.

A little boy wants a puppy more than anything else in the world. Everywhere he sees dogs — in the snow, by his bed, in the clouds, even in his bathtub. In an ending as statisfying for parent as for child, he gets his own real live puppy.

It’s a very attractive volume. The cream colored pages are easy on the eye and nicely textured. And those puppies with their dear little faces are irresistable even to a cat lover like me. The dog the little boy sees near his bed with its winsome please-pet-me expression and the Pekingese with its wide eyes and button nose are priceless.

Only a real dog lover with keen powers of observation could draw those bright and alert canines, each with a distinct personality. There were always dogs in Simcox’s life. Even as a child she adored them.

The breakup of an early unhappy marriage left Simcox raising two young daughters alone and struggling financially. Even in those hard times she was willing to make a pet part of their family. “My oldest daughter always loved animals. She wanted a dog so badly.”

Fortunately Simcox fell in love again. She and her second husband have been married for almost 48 years.

Her love of dogs is still as strong as ever. “The West Highland Terrier, Tammas, pictured with me at the back of the `Puppies’ book, was a speical dog. I had him for 17 years, and he was a wonderfully playful and affectionate companion. He died two years ago and I now have an almost black cairn terrier named Emmy. She’s a sweet, affectionate companion also.”

Simcox is also very fond of snow. She and her children would get out and play. “We’d make snow angels. We’d ski. I’m a terrible skier.”

Simcox and her children enjoyed many of the simple pleasures of life. She baked cookies and rainbow cakes with them. When they ate ice cream they would think of all the things they could imagine that color. They enjoyed sports and played all kinds of games.

Simcox wrote, illustrated and acted out stories for her children. After her minister husband retired and she had more time, she began to write out some of her stories and send them to publishers. In additon to her own picture books — “My Book of Gray,” “For All the World,” “A Woodland Carol” and “Four Little Blobs” — she edited and illustrated “Dear Dark Faces,” an anthology of Black poetry.

“I think that the most rewarding and exciting aspect of writing and illustrating books is the process itself — the fun of doing it, especially the beginning and final days. Sometimes, in the middle of the project, you wonder if it’s going to be worth all the time and effort.”

Currently Simcox is not working on a project. After 25 years of living in the same house in Minnesota, she found the cold getting to her. In September she moved to Ohio where it’s taking her awhile to get settled in.

“I like being close to my great grandson. He’s 7 months old. I want to watch him grow up and play with him.”

Simcox, 80, says she’s no spring chicken. As long as she continues to “find beauty in surprising places,” she’s plenty young at heart.