Winter reading with kids
By Dolly Dearner
January brings cold, gloomy days, sometimes with snow or ice. When it’s too cold to have fun outside, there are always books to read. For all the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, older siblings, and teachers who read books to kids, here are a few wintery classics you and the little ones may enjoy.
The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats: A young boy awakens to snow outside his window, puts on a red snowsuit, and goes outside. His solitary adventures are captured in a series of serene bright-colored illustrations, and his feelings conveyed as he longs to join a group of older boys and mourns the snowball he saved in his pocket. He awakens the next morning to more snow and heads outside with a friend.
The Mitten, by Jan Brett: When Nikki asks his grandmother to knit some white mittens, she tells him not to lose them in the snow. He goes out and promptly drops one without noticing. One by one, various woodland creatures find the mitten and burrow inside to keep warm. The mitten stretches to accommodate all of them, but when one sneezes, the mitten flies off and lands in the snow. Nikki finds it and takes it inside. The last of the folkloric illustrations shows Grandmother looking bewildered as she holds the two mittens, one much larger than the other. Knitters will appreciate the accurate rendering of the stockinette stitches.
Corduroy, by Don Freeman. The story opens with shoppers wearing coats and hats in a crowded store, suggesting winter holidays. Lisa asks her mother for a teddy bear on display, but Mom declines, saying she has already spent too much. The next day Lisa returns to the store to buy the bear (named Corduroy) with money from her piggy bank. In the night between the two days, the story is told from Corduroy’s point of view, when he wanders through the store hoping to find the missing button from his overalls and is returned to his place by a friendly watchman. The Mom in the story is kind but firm; she has to mind her budget. Lisa is resourceful; she has her own money. Corduroy has feelings and thoughts; he says he has always wanted a friend after Lisa takes him home and sews on a new button to replace the one that was lost.
Owl at Home, by Arnold Lobel: The first of the five stories in this book is “The Guest,” who is none other than Winter himself. Owl politely invites him in, and Winter roars through the house bringing cold wind, dropping snow, and leaving Owl’s bowl of soup frozen solid. The wind finally reverses course and exits through the front door. Owl slams the door and sits by the fire warming up as his soup thaws. This and the other stories in the book convey a sense of gentle absurdity with expressive, muted illustrations.
Chicken Soup with Rice, by Maurice Sendak: A series of rhymes for each month of the year, written and illustrated by the peerless Maurice Sendak. Each rhyme focuses on the eponymous soup; the rhymes for January, February, March, November and December highlight snowy, blustery weather and holiday themes, and each month has its own quirky energetic illustrations. The book was turned into a song by the equally peerless Carole King.
When the weather outside is frightful,
Reading books can be delightful.
Wishing everyone a warm and peaceful February.