Let it Snow
Heartwarming Wintertime Reads (K-Gr 3)
Joy Fleishhacker, Curriculum Connections -- School Library Journal, 1/10/2008
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Celebrate the season with a selection of imaginative, entertaining, and eye-catching books just right for sharing aloud, introducing concepts and themes, and inspiring creative writing and art endeavors.
Frosty Animal Tales
Jan Brett transports a traditional story to the far North, where a curious Inuit girl
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For a comical contrast to Brett’s book, try Karel Hayes’s The Winter Visitors (Down East, 2007). Detailed watercolor panels presented in comic-book style depict the action, as a family of bears moves into a lakeside cottage after the human residents depart in the fall, cozy down for their winter’s rest, and leave before the owners return in the spring. With few words, this humorous book encourages kids to extract plot elements from the artwork and create their own retellings.Taking a quieter approach, Bernette Ford describes the adventures of several young rabbit siblings as they investigate the First Snow (Holiday, 2005). The book’s melodious language melts on the tongue like a snowflake and Sebastien Braun’s endearing paintings mirror the magical stillness of a winter night. Use this effective mood-setter to encourage contemplative moments, or discuss the wintertime behaviors of real animals.
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
When the weatherman predicts a storm, an elated narrator ponders the possibility of a Snow Day! (Peachtree, 2007) spent reading a favorite book, sipping hot cocoa, and romping outdoors. Children will appreciate Lester L. Laminack’s filled-with-anticipation text and relish Adam Gustavson’s humorous oil paintings depicting two youngsters and their father partaking in each longed-for activity. Unfortunately, the morning brings only a flurry or two, and, as the family scrambles to get ready for school, the disappointed storyteller reveals that he can’t be late…because he’s the teacher.
In David Johnson’s Snow Sounds: An Onomatopoeic Story (Houghton, 2006), a boy awakens to the “hush” of a snowy morning and helps his father clear the storm’s aftermath. The tale is told through muted, speckled-with-white watercolors and an array of expressive noises—a plow’s “Crash Crush Clank,” the “Whomp” of boots 
on powder. In another atmospheric picture book, an enthusiastic youngster explains why Winter Is the Warmest Season (Harcourt, 2006), easily edging out the more obvious choice of summer. Lauren Stringer’s playful text and homey paintings in hearthside hues enumerate an assortment of cold-weather pleasures. These titles can introduce language-usage concepts (onomatopoeia, oxymorons, descriptive details, etc.) or prompt students to pen odes glorifying their favorite time of year.From the famous Frosty to front-yard sculptures of all types, snowmen are a familiar seasonal sight. In Caralyn and Mark Buehner’s The Snowmen Pop-Up Book (Dial, 2006), a boy speculates about the secret life of these winter icons, imagining that they spend a blissful night playing at the park before returning home—drooping and slightly worse for wear. With rhyming text, icy-bright artwork, and sturdy movable parts, this attention-grabber can inspire story writing and craft projects.
Dress for SuccessAs the temperature plummets, kids reach for their cold-weather gear, a reflex common in Alaska, as evidenced by a young narrator who nonchalantly describes donning multiple layers and going out for Recess at 20 Below (Alaska Northwest, 2005). Cindy Lou Aillaud’s vivacious text and full-color photos describe activities such as sledding, snow tunneling, and snow-top soccer.
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Noah's Mittens (Lunge-Larsen) © 2006 by Matthew Trueman |
In Noah’s Mittens: The Story of Felt (Houghton, 2006), Lise Lunge-Larsen tells how, after landing the ark on snowy Mount Ararat, this inventive patriarch came up with an idea for a miraculously warm fabric. Related with tall-tale élan and enhanced by Matthew Trueman’s whimsical mixed-media illustrations, this captivating story can be paired with your favorite version of The Mitten or used as a lead-in for felt crafts.
Wintertime RhymeRobert Sabuda’s Winter in White (S & S/Little Simon, 2007) blends rhyming text and elegant pop-up sculptures to captivate readers with a silver-tipped snowflake that unfolds, a snowman that tips its hat, and a skater that twirls atop a shiny pond. William Shakespeare’s Winter Song (Wordsong, 2006) offers another lyrical look at the season, as family members work and play outdoors or gather around a blazing hearth. Melanie Hall’s crisply colored paintings depict 16th-century English life, helping students to comprehend the poem’s language and envision the past.
In a series of enchanting poems, Mary Quattlebaum describes how a girl ventures out into the city after a snowstorm and finds a solitary mitten. When she unexpectedly meets its barehanded owner, the two instantly become Winter Friends (Doubleday, 2005). Hiroe Nakata’s buoyant watercolors depict the blustery backdrops and cheerfully clad, red-cheeked children.
Filled with sparkling word images and a host of familiar pasttimes, Jack Prelutsky’s It’s Snowing! It’s Snowing! (HarperCollins, 2006) blissfully commemorates the season. Accessible, easy-to-read language makes these poems a breeze for beginning readers, and Yossi Abolafia’s spirited watercolors provide visual clues and soft-as-snow humor.
Cold-Weather CarolsBased on “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” these books will stretch imaginations and reinforce counting skills. A stout snowman relates how, on The First Day of Winter (Holt, 2005), “my best friend gave to me…a red cap with a gold snap.” The offerings continue with “2 bright blue mittens,” “3 striped scarves,” etc., until the narrator is dressed to the nines. Denise Fleming’s effervescent paper-pulp illustrations depict a soft-textured landscape and tantalizing glimpses of the gift giver. Deborah Lee Rose’s The Twelve Days of Winter: A School Counting Book (Abrams, 2006) relates a teacher’s inventive efforts to keep her high-spirited students happily occupied, beginning with a “bird feeder in a snowy tree,” “two teddy bears,” and so on. The amusing text never misses a beat, but the real fun is in Carey Armstrong-Ellis’s detailed, laugh-out-loud illustrations. Two superb selections for sharing aloud (or singing along).
Get BusyAll of these wonderful winter tales can be enhanced and extended with activities, experiments, and games that tie directly into plots and themes. Jane Drake and Ann Love’s The Kids Winter Handbook (Kids Can, 2001) is jam-packed with an assortment of projects and interesting factual tidbits. Two-page chapters, illustrated with soft pencil sketches, introduce topics such as weather forecasting and animal tracks, provide simple science experiments, and present a variety of indoor and outdoor games and crafts (many inspired by the ancient peoples of the far North). Nancy F. Castaldo’s Winter Day Play! (Chicago Review, 2001) is also filled with a tempting array of things to do, each supported with background information and black-and-white illustrations. Kids can play “Snowy Day Bingo” or “Don’t Wake the Bear,” make a mitten-shaped book or a snowflake mobile, or participate in a marshmallow sculpture contest.
Watch Denise Fleming create a pulp painting image
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