In 1997, three decades after Grosset & Dunlap issued the last Judy Bolton title, author Linda Joy Singleton completed a book that series creator Margaret Sutton had begun writing several years before. Once the first draft was finished, Singleton submitted it to Sutton for revisions, and the book that emerged from their collaboration carries the name of both co-authors. Chronologically, "The Talking Snowman" takes place during the Christmas season between the events described in volume 3 and volume 4, and thus is known to collectors as "volume 3.5".