One sunny day Samson, a large and friendly woolly mammoth, encounters a little red bird who is looking for yellow flowers for her mouse friend (whose favorite color is yellow). As she flies off with the flowers, Samson wonders what it must be like to have a friend. He wonders this for so long, in fact, that he falls asleep and wakes up to a world covered in snow. In the midst of a blizzard, Samson finds and shelters the little red bird and flower-loving mouse in a tender tale of kindness and unexpected friendship.

Philip C. Stead is the author of the 2011 Caldecott Medal winner, A Sick Day for Amos McGee, as well as Bear Has a Story to Tell, an E. B. White Honor book. Books that he has written and illustrated include Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast, Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat, A Home for Bird, Hello, My Name Is Ruby, and Sebastian and the Balloon. Philip lives with his wife, illustrator Erin E. Stead Michigan.