Winter Tales

This celebration of winter solstice blends imagery from the long-ago revelries of northern Europeans with modern-day observations and global traditions. As the sun set on the shortest day of the year, early people would gather to prepare for the long night ahead. They built fires and lit candles and played music, bringing their own light to the darkness. This is a tale of hope, anticipation, love, and joy.

Alone in the snowy woods with his dog, a boy discovers the wonder of winter trees, one at a time, in a big, quiet space. On every double-page spread, four lines of simple verse and bright linoleum block prints decorated with watercolor and collage capture the stark outlines and the details of what he sees, hears, and touches (“Crunch! Our footsteps make the only sound”). The botanical facts are part of the wonder (“Trees that once had leaves are bare”). (Booklist)

“Help! I’m melting!” A boy rescues a snowball again and again in this funny story about a snowball that gets to see all four seasons. Back matter offers information about the seasons and the three states of water (solid, liquid, and vapor)

In the midst of a whirling snowfall, a girl and her father pile into their big red snow plow. Through slippery streets, up winding hills, they race — clearing the snow and heading for the train station to meet a very special traveler. The rhyming text is just right for one or two readers.

Look! A line of paw prints in the snow. Follow the tracks to see the rare and majestic snow leopard and visit her secret world. Join a zoologist in the Himalayan mountains as he searches for the elusive creature. With her pale gold and silver-gray coat painted with black rosettes, she blends so well into the boulders, it’s no wonder she’s thought of as a ghost of the mountains. Written by a zoologist and interwoven with fascinating facts, this look at a fascinating animal includes an end note suggesting resources to explore.

When Thomas misplaces the basket of dried fruit he needs to make his seasonal wintercake, friends old and new come together to save the day. This holiday tale is full of surprises and gentle humor, and a book about holiday traditions and why they matter. It’s also a story about making mistakes and how mistakes can sometimes lead to wonderful things!

Former children’s poet laureate, J. Patrick Lewis, allows the polar bear tell us what he’s called in different cultures — White Bear, Ice Bear, Sea Bear, Sailor of the Icebergs, the Ever-wandering One. The Inuit’s say “I am Nanuk”). The devastating ending shows the polar bear adrift on a shrinking bit of ice, “losing hold” — a reference to how this Arctic animal is threatened by extinction and in need of human protection.

Suddenly “awake” in the middle of winter, a “big bear” explores a “cozy cabin,” which Bear of course “enters excitedly.” But the cabin isn’t empty — a little girl lives there. So begins an unlikely friendship and an unexpected adventure as the girl attempts to figure out what a bear is supposed to be doing in the winter. (Hint: It’s not eating pancakes or visiting the library!)

In this winter fable about where snow comes from, Little Snow, who wears snowflake pajamas, gets a new featherbed for the long, cold winter nights. But Mommy says this bed is for sleeping, not jumping, but when she leaves the room, he jumps and jumps on his bed … until one day it rips, sending feathers flying. A page turn reveals that his feathers are snowflakes, falling on a nghttime city block.

Fox realizes that winter is coming as the first snowflakes fall on its nose. Forest dwellers from the smallest to the largest offer advice, but when the fox meets its companion, they do what foxes do in winter: dance! Textured illustrations accompany the well-paced narration to suggest animal behavior and simple delight.

Scratchboard illustrations accompany an invocation, a poem that invites something to happen. Here a girl wants the world to slow down just a bit so her pilot mother doesn’t have to leave. What happens before morning? A huge snowfall slows everything down. Dark lines and rich shapes of a winter cityscape unfold along with the poem, leaving room for the reader to imagine.