The Snowy Day By: Ezra Jack Keats

The 1963 Caldecott Medal winner

The Snowy Day is a fantastic book to read anytime of year but especially in the thick of winter.  What child isn't dreaming of playing in the snow right now?  The boy in this book Peter wakes up to find his world all white as far as he can see.  You then follow him as he sets out alone to make silly tracks in the snow, smack a snow covered tree (oops), make a snowman and angels, attempt to play with the bigger boys in their snowball fight and slide down a big mound of snow.  The illustrations are simple and soft and at the right times bright and vibrant.  Ezra Jack Keats really portrays the images of the 1960's but this book is timeless and any child will love this story!

The publisher of this book Viking/Penguin declared January The Snowy Day month and their website has a lot of great activities. Why not read the book and combine it with an activity to get the kids excited about reading?  Check it out here: http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/

If your children like this book try reading another of the six books where Keats uses Peter as a character.  My girls also like watching the Ezra Jack Keats Scholastic DVD that includes seven of his stories read aloud with all the images of the books displayed for them. 

 Don't forget many of the books are available at your local library and to utilize your library as often as possible!

If You Take A Mouse To The Movies By: Laura Numeroff Illustrated by: Felicia Bond

You'll see in this book if you take a mouse to the movies it will lead you on a very exciting and tiring journey. The mouse leads the boy on a sequence of activities that will have you laughing all the way!  It just so happens with everything he asks for it will in the end have him asking for the same thing he did at the beginning leading right back to where he started!

The book set around Christmas time has lots of winter fun sprinkled throughout the pages. The illustrations will capture little readers attention with all the sparkle and detail paid to every page! My girls love when the mouse makes Christmas ornaments, many, many, Christmas ornaments!  They especially love the angel mouse he makes.

This is one of three books about this adorable mouse. All written in the familiar fun way watching the little mouse going in a circle of activities to find himself back where he started!

If your children enjoy this book take a trip to your local library and bring home the series of these books :

1.  IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE
2.  IF YOU GIVE A MOOSE A MUFFIN
3.  IF YOU GIVE A PIG A PANCAKE
4.  IF YOU GIVE A CAT A CUPCAKE
5.  IF YOU TAKE A MOUSE TO SCHOOL
6.  IF YOU TAKE A MOUSE TO THE MOVIES
7.  IF YOU GIVE A PIG A PARTY 

Also check out the author here: http://www.lauranumeroff.com/index.htm  

She has a lot of excellent reads and also some activities for the kiddos!

Santa Claus By: Rod Green Illustrated by: Jon Lucas and Carol Wright

This is a book I bought before my daughter was born.  I knew even as an adult how much enjoyment this book would provide for my children.

The book is full of facts about the North Pole and its animals, how the elves work and play, Santa's house, the mail room, Santa's workshop, Mrs. Claus's cookies, all the reindeer including Rudolph, Santa's Magic Snowsuit, Santa's Sleigh,  how he travels and deliver the presents and much, much more!  The book has letters you can open and read and stickers to use.  It includes a spot to play peek-a-boo with an elf, and a pull out on the animals of the Arctic.  Your children will be mesmerized by this book and will spend lots of time looking over each page!  It is a great addition to Christmas time and it explains a lot of the magic behind Santa but is also very informative and factual.  I think at any age a child would appreciate this book!  Isabela as a one year old was stuck on the page with the Elves having their Christmas Day party.  Both my girls love pulling this book out each year with our holiday things and reading it over and over again!  There are secrets on every page and lots of fun to be had with this book! 

Santa's Diary and a pull out route map too!

The Polar Express Written & Illustrated by: Chris Van Allsburg

The Polar Express was read to me as a young child at school during the Christmas season.  Along time before it was a movie it was one of my absolute favorite books.  I remember I even wrote a letter to the author with the help of my teacher.  As a little girl I did believe in the spirit of Christmas and I hoped The Polar Express would come pick me up and take me to see Santa!

The little boy in the book gets to take the Polar Express to the North Pole.  He is then chosen to receive the first gift of Christmas.  He asks for a silver bell from Santa's sleigh.  You feel so terrible for him when you find that he has lost the bell after he gets back on the train because of a hole in his pocket. The train drops him back home and in the morning after opening all of his gifts he finds a small box at the back of the tree.  It is his bell with a letter from Santa! The boy and his sister can hear the magical sound of the bell but his parents can't.  The last page and paragraph is my favorite part of the book and would always bring a tear to my eye.

 

"At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them.  Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound.  Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe."

Such a profound concept!  It is so important to me that my children's imaginations flourish and that the magic of their childhood lasts as long as possible.  It is only once that we are truly innocent and it should not be taken away too quickly instead it should be fostered and encouraged! Reading helps kids believe that anything is possible!  Happy reading and a Very Merry Christmas to all!

A Pussycat's Christmas By: Margaret Wise Brown Illustrated by: Anne Mortimer

What child doesn't like a cute cat and a great Christmas story? Well this book has got both.  Go on a journey with a pussycat who loves snow and get a vivid description about how she perceives the holiday of Christmas.  The illustrations are adorable and lovely and the verses are melodic.

The picture of the pussycat getting into the gift wrapping and playing with the Christmas ornaments is spot on.  Anyone with a cat can picture theirs doing the same with their big black eyes ready to pounce on anything that moves or rustles.  My little Emy thinks it is so neat that the cat eats snow just like her!  Pussycat even catches a glimpse of Santa in his sleigh way up in the night sky. The story ends with her sleeping all curled up with a present left by Santa waiting for her when she wakes.

 "For if there was anything that this little cat loved, it was the cold, dry, fresh, white, wild, and feathery, powdery snow. She went pouncing around in it, bouncing with joy. And she at some of it. And she rolled in it and dug in it and played with it."

By the author of Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny.

Snowflake Bentley By: Jacqueline Briggs Martin Illustrated by: Mary Azarian

Winner of the 1999 Caldecott Medal

 A true and inspiring story of Wilson Bentley a man who loved the beauty of snow.  A man who dedicated his life to sharing the beauty and originality of all snowflakes. Find out how he learned to use a microscope armed with a camera to take photographs of snowflakes that would never been seen again because no two snowflakes are alike.  He did this in a time when people looked down on him and thought it was silly.  He never made much money from his snowflake work but that didn't bother him. He just wanted to share what he had found.  In the summers he would take pictures of dew drops on spiderwebs and flowers, but it never compared to his love for snow.  Scientist who respected Mr. Bentley's work raised money for him to make a book out of his best photographs. He had it published when he was sixty-six years old. Shortly after that he became ill and died from pneumonia after walking six miles in a blizzard.  The town in his honor set up a museum for their "snowflake authority".

This is really a fascinating book that showcases a child who had a dream and a passion and followed it dispite not making any wealth from it.  It is really inspiring and a wonderful message for our children to follow their dreams!

The first time I saw a snowflake for the beautiful thing it really was, I was sitting in a cold car watching them drift down onto the windshield. I watched them for as long as I could.  Up until that point I just thought snowflakes were little puffs and that a snowflakes beauty was fabricated.  My girls are looking forward to catching a snowflake and getting a chance to admire it for as long as it will stay.

To learn more or if you are intersted in visiting the museum in Jericho Vermont here is a link:
http://snowflakebentley.com/




                       

Annie And Snowball and the Wintry Freeze By: Cynthia Rylant Illustrated by: Sucie Stevenson

I can't say enough about the author of this book Cynthia Rylant.  She does many series books that are easy to read, funny, and the characters are very lovable!  Some of her series books are Brownie & Pearl, Mr. Putter & Tabby, Henry and Mudge and of course Annie and Snowball.  We love each of them.  Henry is Annie's cousin and Mudge his Henry's dog.  Henry and Mudge live beside Annie and Snowball and they are usually having an adventure together. 

 

In this book Annie gets to put on all her pink snow gear and head out into a wintry wonderland that has been frozen over by an ice storm. Annie's dad told her "she looked like a big pink marshmallow."  She goes outside with Henry and Mudge to enjoy the icy adventure while Snowball stayed inside watching from the window.  Henry ice skates and Annie gets slid around by Mudge.  When they come in they are greeted by warm apple cider and cinnamon buns.  "They peeled off their icy mittens and icy hats and icy boots."  Annie ends up sleeping all warmed up with Mudge and Snowball by her side.

I can remember the blizzard we had in the 1990's and walking over fields covered with the slick ice.  How much fun it was to try to walk gingerly to not crack the ice and slide onward.  I can vividly picture my mittens being taken off after coming in from a long day out in the snow.  The ice clinging to the mittens making them almost useless outside but the thought of coming in was not an option until you were frozen solid!  Isabela in her first real snow was all done up in her pink snow suit armed with a wooden spoon and an Elmo cup.  Both of us playing outside together almost disappearing in the snow that was so deep.  She loved it so much and her frozen pink kissed cheeks looked so sweet warming up inside our house waiting for her "warm" cocoa with marshmallows!  Emma for her first snow would get stuck standing in one position or fall and not be able to get up!  She was so little and I would have to swoop her up and take her to another spot so she could eat the snow.  =)

The Mitten By: Jan Brett

The Mitten is a Ukrainian folktale.  It is about a boy who asks his Baba (grandmother) to knit him white mittens.  She warns him that if dropped in the snow they will be hard to find. But he still wants them and she makes them for him.  While out playing he drops one of his white mittens.  He continues to play without noticing one of his mittens is gone, but the animals notice and one by one go inside the cozy mitten.  Each animal bigger than the one before goes into the mitten until the biggest of all a bear fits himself in the mitten. By this time the mitten is quite big and very stretched out.  Then a tiny mouse perches herself on the bears nose causing the bear to sneeze and all the animals get shot out of the mitten!  The boy sees the mitten flying up in the air and runs for it. "From the window, Baba watched Nicki catch the mitten.  "See, Baba!" he called to her.  " I have both my mittens." And Baba smiled.

Each page has two mittens drawn on each side that act as a window.  From one you see what the boy is doing and from the other you can see what animal is coming next.  My youngest daughter Emma also likes the flowers and hearts that adorn each page and likes to tell me her favorite one as we read this book together.  This is a fun book that any child will get a good laugh out of!  Share with them the magic of this great folktale and see if they believe that this indeed could happen to one of their mittens!  What a great read for a cold winter day!  Follow the story up by trying to see how many things they can stuff into a mitten or how many stuffed animals they can get to fit.  If they are like my children they have plenty of mini sized stuffed animals just waiting for them to use.

I love the last picture in this book of Baba looking at the stretch out mitten!

                                                  

First Snow By: Emily Arnold McCully

First Snow is such a delightful read.  The illustrations are adorable and nostalgic.  The text is as simple as it comes with one word sentences adorning most pages.  This allows the illustrations to really speak for themselves and allows parents to become an active participant in the descriptions.



I really love the simplicity of this book and look forward to reading it every year to my little girls. My girls like most children can't wait for the white stuff to start piling up outside and this year they are ready to try out their own sleds!  Like the little character Bitty my girls will have to climb a steep hill and see if they too have the courage to slide down.  Will they be like Bitty and find the nerve to do it?  Will they want to do it over and over and make us drag them home?!  I can't wait to find out!  I will post pictures as a follow up of the girls sledding and I hope like Bitty they have such a magical time that when they get home they end up falling asleep in front of their hot chocolates.

The author of First Snow Emily Arnold McCully is a Caldecott Medal winner.  Here is to a brilliant read and to many snowy days this winter. 

Our first sledding adventure was some of the most fun I have ever had with my girls!  It was a really steep hill and they were both not afraid and went up and down probably 15 times!  Great winter fun just like Bitty had!