Saturday, January 16, 2010

Winter Books

With the winter cold air comes time for snuggling up with a good book! Here are two of Emmy's favorite picks for books that are just right for snuggling.

Winter is the Warmest Season by Lauren Stringer is an enjoyable book that helps the reader see that although the temperatures may be colder in winter, there is a lot of warmth to be found. At first the idea of
winter being warm was confusing to Emmy, but as we looked at the marvelous artwork in this book it began to make perfect sense. It helped that we tried out some of the suggestions in the book such as: feeling the puffiness of our winter coats, burying ourselves under the blankets on Emmy's bed, sipping hot chocolate, eating grilled cheese sandwiches, and wearing pajamas with feet.

When winter comes, my jacket puffs warm with feathers, my hat grows earflaps, my pants hide deep in fuzzy boots, and my hands wear warm wooly sweaters.

Ms. Stringer shares how she got the idea for this winter book: "Since my children were born, I have kept notes on things they have said and done that delight and surprise me. I had no idea on one hot, steaming summer day when my six year old son turned to me and said, “Winter is the hottest season ‘cause everybody drinks hot chocolate and wears warm clothes, and sits in front of hot fires,” that his interesting logic would turn itself into a picture book!" Writing down your children's thoughts in an ongoing journal is such a great idea. Maybe one day these pieces of wisdom will become ideas for a future children's book.

Next on Emmy's list is Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee. With simple words and illustrations,
Yee takes us on a little girl's adventure to find out who made the tracks in the snow.

Just outside my window, there are tracks in the snow. Who made the tracks? Where do they go?

Now when we venture out into the snow, our eyes are looking for tracks and wondering what creature might have made them. We enjoy making our own tracks and noticing that Mommy's tracks are bigger than Emmy's. Although Emmy will often say that her tracks are the biggest.

Falling Snow
See the pretty snowflakes
Falling from the sky;
On the wall and housetops
Soft and thick they lie.

On the window ledges,
On the branches bare;
Now how fast they gather,
Filling all the air.

Look into the garden,
Where the grass was green;
Covered by the snowflakes,
Not a blade is seen.

Now the bare black bushes
All look soft and white,
Every twig is laden,
What a pretty sight!

1 comment:

  1. We've been on the look out for winter books that aren't about Christmas and these 2 sound great. Now, off to add you to my blogroll :-) (Found you via the kidlitosphere list of bloggers)

    ReplyDelete