Winter Book Recommendations

We love winter reading! Here are some of our favourites from the library and our own bookshelves.

Winter habitats

Over and Under the Snow
by Kate Messner & Christopher Silas Neal

Birds of Eastern and Central North America
by Roger Tory Peterson

National Geographic Animals in Winter
by Ron Fisher

In the Snow: Who's Been Here?
by Lindsay Barrett George










Winter poetry

Flower Fairies of the Winter
by Cicely Mary Barker

Winter Poems
Selected by Barbara Rogasky
Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
A collection of 25 winter poems, from Shakespeare to Nash to Frost.






Winter stories

Once Upon a Northern Night
by Jean E. Pendziwol & Isabelle Arsenault

Snow
by Uri Shulevitz

Brambly Hedge Winter Story
by Jill Barklem

Katy and the Big Snow
by Virginia Lee Burton

The Snowy Day
by Ezra Jack Keats

Flannel Kisses
by Linda Crotta Brennan & Mari Takabayashi






A few lesser known worth mentioning:

 

Once Upon a Northern Night
by Canadian team Jean E. Pendziwol & Isabelle Arsenault
Groundwood Books
2013

This one appealed to my northern sensibilities! I love the poetic text and dreamy illustrations. It's a great bedtime story with the feel of a lullaby.

It begins:
One upon a northern night
while you lay sleeping,
wrapped in a downy blanket,
I painted you a picture.

 

Flannel Kisses
by Linda Crotta Brennan
Illustrated by Mari Takabayashi

I discovered this one years ago when I worked at The Freckled Lion Children's Bookstore in Georgetown, Ontario. I think it's out of print, though probably findable online somewhere.

Both the rhyming text and colourful pictures are fairly simple, but I what I especially like is the portrayal of family life. The children spend most of the winter day outside, coming in for hot meals and to dry their socks. When we read this, it inspires my two little ones to get outside, and that's a good thing!

What does your family love to read in winter?


~lg

Library Finds: "Going to Sleep on the Farm"

I have decided to start a new feature - Library Finds! We've been making good use of our public library lately. It's a small branch, but there are a good number of picture books and I can make requests for anything in the system. Some of the picture books we bring home are just ok, but then there are the ones that we all like reading again and again. So whenever I find a really great book, I will post about it here!

Without further ado, our first instalment:

Going to Sleep on the Farm

by Wendy Cheyette Lewison

illustrated by Juan Wijngaard

With rhythmic, gentle text and lovely, illuminated artwork, this is a wonderful book both for listening and looking. The text is a conversation between father and son at bedtime. It opens, 

How does a cow go to sleep, tell me how?

How does a cow go to sleep?

A full spread illustration follows with the father's description of the cow settling down for the night. Different farm animals follow in turn, till the sun has set and everyone is asleep. 

The rhythm is just right in this book, as is the rhyming. The artwork captures the light of the setting sun perfectly. And I love that it's a book with a daddy in it! 

Here is a sample page:

It's not currently in print, though second-hand copies can be obtained online. I think I'll put it on my wish list!

~lg