Baby It's Cold Outside... Some Wintry Picture Books

It's been a little breezy here in Minnesota.
It's so cold that we have had three days of school canceled due to low temps and dangerous wind chills. It's good time to snuggle down, sip some hot chocolate, wrap yourself in wool, and read.

Here's a few books for the youngsters that I recommend that continue with this COLD wintry theme!


Cold Snap
by Eileen Spinelli
An adorable story about the people in Toby Mills who experience a cold snap. How will they manage? Cute, and fun (but really nothing compared to the temps here).

The majority of  wintry books are really more about snow than simply cold. These are some classics.


The Snowy Day
by Ezra Jack Keats
Caldecott Medal, 1963
This is a classic. Who isn't familiar with this book? Again, this is another book that reminds me of Captain Kangaroo. He read this one quite a bit. Ezra Jack Keats used collage as his medium for the illustrations, which are vibrant and vivid. This was a first for the time. It was also one of the first books which had the main character be a boy of color, and also one who lived in an urban setting. Keats captures the amazement and wonder of the first snowfall, and the joys had while playing outside.


Peter, the main character, is in seven more of Keats' books. The reader is able to follow him as he grows up.



The Big Snow
by Berta and Elmer Hader
Caldecott Medal, 1949
This story follows many animals of the forest and meadows, and how they prepare for winter and the cold. It contains a lot of information, and is really more information than story. But there is much to learn and see! Little animals foraging food, storing away, building soft, snuggling places to sleep. The big snow in the end comes and the humans that live near the forest put out food for the animals to eat. The pictures are really beautiful.

 

Snow

by Uri Shulevitz

Caldecot Honor Medal, 1999

A young boy hopes for snow, and as one, then two snowflakes fall, all the adults poo poo the snowfall. The snow continues and the city, which is at first gray and gloomy, becomes vibrant with the new snow.

 

 

 

 
Katy and the Big Snow
by Virginia Lee Burton
Another classic. Many readers may only be familiar with Burton's story of Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel. Katy is a big red tractor, fitted with a plow blade. After a big storm, everything is snowed under until Katy can come and plow them all out.





White Snow Bright Snow
by Alvin Tresselt and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
Caldecott Medal, 1948
Another oldie but goody where one snowflake soon leads to an entire blanketing of snow.
The illustrator, Roger Duvoisin, is also well known for his books starring Petunia the goose.

One my absolute favorite winter books is that of the

The Tomten
 
and the Tomten and the Fox
both by Astrid Lindgren with AMAZING illustrations by Harald Wiberg.
You can read a post I did all about these books here:
Winters Come and Winters Go...the Tomten

To continue in the Nordic vein, another beautiful book of Winter is

Ollie's Ski Trip
by Elsa Beskow
If you aren't familiar with Elsa Beskow, run right out to your library and get a few of her books! Her illustrations are beautiful.

In Ollie's ski trip, a little boy gets his first pair of skis and heads out on an adventure. He meets King Winter, and Jack Frost, and visits Winters icy palace. Soon Mrs. Thaw makes an appearance (she's my hero).  A lovely story.


Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost and illustrated by Susan Jeffers
Many are familiar with Frost's poem, and it is fabulously enhanced by the illustrations of Susan Jeffers.


 
Brave Irene
by William Steig
A little girl offers to take a dress her mother has made for the Duchess and deliver it because her mother is ill. Irene is brave, and all sorts of wintry calamities befall her. She is snowed on, falls in snow, tumbles through snowdrifts, slides down hills and loses the dress. But in the end her plucky spirit and bravery are rewarded. You will love Irene.

Waiting for Winter
by Sebastian Meschenmoser           
Young squirrel decides to stay awake, instead of hibernate (hmm...the squirrel's where I live don't hibernate?) in order to have the chance to see snow. He decides to exercise to keep himself awake, and ends up waking his neighbor. Once his neighbor decides to stay awake to see snow also, they sing songs to stay awake and end up waking bear...it's a cute, and silly read for young ones. Pretty delightful illustrations.

6 Months in One Post and 2 Recommended WWII Reads

My oh my, will you look at that? It has been a long gap since I last blogged.
This is due to several things which I will give a little update on.

First of all, summer happened. Writing this mid-January it seems that warmth and sunshine are a distant memory, but it did happen. I admit that I read more, but I also tried to be outside and offline a bit more, so there was that.

Second, we had a family wedding. That was wonderful and beautiful but took up some of my time trying to do my hair while we lacked power. (The wedding hit on the weekend of a crazy storm with most of the city, including the church, not having power.)

Third, we traveled again to Europe. How blessed I am to have these trips. This trip was to Germany, cruising the Rhine, visiting the Romantic Road, and extensive time in France: Paris, Provence, and the French Riviera, and a short stop in Monaco. Bliss...

The last reason I have blogged less is that I will admit that I have felt burnt out. It's not a good feeling and that coupled with the fact that I have felt disheartened by much of the current children's literature and haven't read anything that has sparked a fire in me, has left me lacking and not motivated to blog. I usually focus my summer on reading new books, current published reads, new award winners, and books making all the "must read" lists. Mostly these books all left me flat and feeling rather sad. So many of them are issue based, such as the story of  a girl who has an eating disorder (the book is about the issue, not the character so her name doesn't even stay with you). The focus seems to be so strong on issues, people suffering, abused children, pregnant teens, drug addicted siblings and a family grieving. AUGH! I couldn't take it anymore....

There are still MANY fabulous books out there, but maybe I'm getting old and out of touch because I realize very few things are newly authored. I often read a middle-age book and think, "would I pass this along to one of my nieces?" and answer with a resounding "NO"!

I read a few books that I did enjoy.














Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
A great spy story. A British pilot and British passenger aboard a British spy plane crashes into Nazi-occupied France. The British spy, "Verity" is captured by the Gestapo and is interrogated with the choice to reveal her mission or face execution.

It was very good. It was historical fiction (my fav) and it was set in Europe (like that too). But there were still a few things that made me think (errr...maybe for an older reader).

I also read

Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon
by Steve Sheinkin
This is a great non-fiction account, which reads like fiction, like a wonderful mystery story in fact! This is the account of the race to build the Atomic bomb.
It does include a bit of scientific information, and would be challenging for a young reader, but it is really an excellent account, and so very well written.

Fast forward several months, and here I sit in the beginning of 2014. I have decided that I do miss blogging, but will allow myself the joy of reading the books that I expect to give me joy and spark my desire to blog.

So off I go, I just picked up a stack of books by Ingri d'Aulaire. I have been very obsessed with all things Nordic and am going to go and dive into these:


Ola


Children of the Northlights
and

D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths

Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Nature Poetry and Animals of the Night Forest

The Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night
by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Rick Allen
2011 Newbery Honor Award


Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,
come smell your way among the trees,
come touch rough bark and leathered leaves:
Welcome to the night.








This book is a stunning collection of lyrical poetry, animal facts and beautiful illustrations.
Each poem focuses on a different animal in the night forest. Each poem also includes a sidebar with further animal facts explained.

As a side note: Rick Allen is a Minnesota Artist, and Joyce Sidman is a Minnesota author. She is also the author of another book of nature poems that I also adore.


Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems
by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Beckie Prange (another Minnesota artist)

I wrote about this book here:
When Two Genres Collide Perfectly

Reading and Other Joys of Summer

Ahhh summertime... my favorite time of year. I try to stay off of the "electronics" a bit more and spend more time in the sunshine, thus less blog posts. But today I thought I'd throw together a quickie of what we are reading at my house.

Read aloud:


My Family and Other Animals
by Gerald Durrell

This book was on my summer recommended reads for teens:
Summer Reads for Teens

I can't tell you how delightful this book is! It is the story of the English Naturalist, Gerald Durrell, when as a young boy his family moved from bleak and rainy England to the Greek island of Corfu. This book will encourage you to go sit outside, under a tree, and watch the daily scuttle of the animals and insect world. It also makes me want to eat crusty bread and eat goat cheese, olives and figs. The family is hysterical, and truly will have you chuckling along with their adventures.
The boy loves this one as well!

I'm currently reading:


Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
I'm back on historical fiction. So far this book is very good. It is the story of  two British women during WWII. One is a captured spy in Nazi German occupied France. It is fascinating and one I foresee highly recommending.

Developing a Child's Moral Character Through Books

My intent of floating in my pool reading fun books all summer took a twist this week when I read the book

Why Johnny Can't Tell Right From Wrong: and what we can do about it
by William Kilpatrick

William Kilpatrick discusses how our schools are failing our children, especially in terms of teaching values and morals. He says that schools have shifted from using literature and history to teach values and character education to the ideas of "decision-making". Children are now taught that any value system is fine as long as it feels good. Kilpatrick says that the only way we can return to moral development within children is to return to character education and examples of good values and habits.

Wow, there is a lot to process here within this book, and a lot of things that I am pondering...

Kilpatrick encourages parents to read to their children and includes a long list of books that he recommends to assist in this character education.

Another title by Kilpatrick that I  highly recommended is:

Books that Build Character: A Guide to Teaching Your Child Moral Values through Stories

Kilpatrick recommends many books for all ages and reading levels that help to build character. Each book recommended includes a character(s) who is delving into their own moral character and developing a sense of right and wrong.

Kilpatrick also offers some wonderful guides into how to use books and stories to develop moral values within your child.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is a wonderful resource for parents and teachers, or anyone else who has an active concern for the moral upbringing of children.

There is a wonderful article online written by William Kilpatrick in which he shares some of his guidelines for choosing good stories.

Some of his guidelines are:

1. Use your own recollection of stories that had a positive impact on you as a young reader.
2. Choose books that keep within your own values.
3. Distinguish between issues and virtues. - many contemporary books for children discuss issues and often trendy issues. These issues are different from character developments. Kilpatrick says that it is important to develop strength of character in your child before you allow them to acquire many secondhand opinions. He says that the author should tell a story, not convey a message.
4. Kilpatrick says it is important to remember that good books are people centered, not problem centered. Look for growth in the main character, but not always steady growth. There is much to learn by a character growing and falling.
5. Context is crucial. Character building books may included immoral behavior. If a character gives in to temptation, a good story will show the real costs of that choice.
6.  Stories can't do all the work. A reader still needs to be able to sort out and draw conclusions.

Read the entire article here: Selecting and Sharing Good Books

The Delight in Beginning to Read and the books of Arnold Lobel

When a child learns to read, a whole new world is opened up to them. Understanding the written word and discovering the joy of books is a wonderful stage of life. Often times the problem is discovering that the books for early readers are dumb, babyish, or lacking a real story. It can often be disheartening to discover that the only books you are able to read are boring school primers and babyish single word books.

In 1957 the book Little Bear was published. It was a beginning reader book, the first from the I Can Read! series. It had delightful stories by Else Holmelund Minarik, and beautiful artwork by Maurice Sendak. It began the wonderful series of creating good stories, with great artwork for children learning to read.

Arnold Lobel entered this series in 1963 as the illustrator of Betty Baker's


Little Runner of the Longhouse (1963)
by Betty Baker
Pictures by Arnold Lobel
Sadly this book is long out of print. You could maybe find at your library, or used on Amazon. Political correctness has been the death knell of any book of Indians, unless presented as factual accounts of Native peoples. That being said, considering I am not Native, maybe I am insensitive to the issues, but personally I lament the loss of many of these titles. This being one of them. It is a charming story.


Red Tag Come Back (1961)
by Fred Phleger
pictures by Arnold Lobel
The first "Science I Can Read Book".
A boy adopts a salmon. This book tells of the life cycle of a salmon.

note: obviously this was Arnold Lobel's first illustrated I Can Read book. Oops.


Let's Get Turtles (1965)
by Millicent E. Selsam
Drawings by Arnold Lobel
This was a well read book at my house growing up. Another book that was one of my brother's favorites. This follows two boys and their pet turtles. It contains many facts about turtles.

Another great read enhanced with Arnold Lobel's drawings, and another family favorite growing up


The Secret Three
by Mildred Myrick
drawings by Arnold Lobel
I put this on my summer must read list for young readers.
Two boys summering at the ocean find a third friend after finding his message in a bottle.
It has some good information on tides and sending secret codes. It's a really fun story, although sadly out of print. Check the library or find used on Amazon.

Miss Suzy (1964)
by Miriam Young
Pictures by Arnold Lobel
This was another very well loved book at my home growing up. It told of dear sweet Miss Suzy, a  gray squirrel who lives in a tree until chased away by some mean red squirrels. She finds a dollhouse to live in and makes friends with the little red soldiers.

This book helped me to look informed about animals later in life as a parent. I have a child who is an animal know-it-all. One day we were watching a gray squirrel be chased and terrorized by some red squirrels in our yard. My son asked me if I knew that even though red squirrels are smaller, that they are much more aggressive and mean to gray squirrels? Yes, yes I did. Thank you Miss Suzy.

The illustrations in this book are beautiful.







See. Red squirrels are thugs.







Of course Arnold Lobel is probably most famous for his books of Frog and Toad. These are the most beautiful stories of friendship. They are wonderful to read aloud, and are also wonderful for beginning readers. Remember that these fabulous stories are written as I Can Read books! The stories are sweet, and funny, and often times have a deeper sense to them. They have moments of chuckling such as when neither Frog nor Toad cans top eating cookies (they are so good!)


Or when they go swimming and a crowd gathers to laugh at Frog because he looks funny in his bathing suit.


The stories delve into deep issues and feelings, such as the story "Tomorrow" in which Toad works on his issues of worrying about "tomorrow". Or in the story "Alone" when Frog wants to be alone so that he can appreciate how wonderful everything is.



The beauty in these stories is that their is a deep quiet within them. They are truly stories of beauty.


Frog and Toad are Friends
by Arnold Lobel
1971 Caldecott Honor Award

Frog and Toad Together
by Arnold Lobel
1973 Newbery Award Medal


I love this. This is me.



Frog and Toad All Year
by Arnold Lobel



Days With Frog and Toad
by Arnold Lobel

He also wrote several other I Can Read books that are also worth reading.

Mouse Soup


 Mouse Tales

Owl at Home


Grasshopper On the Road

Uncle Elephant


Lobel was also awarded the Caldecott Medal for

Fables
by Arnold Lobel
1981 Caldecott Medal
A collection of 20 different fables

 
Hildilid's Night
by Cheli Duran Ryan
illustrated by Arnold Lobel
Caldecott Honor Award
An old folktale of a woman afraid of the night, and how she tries to get rid of it.


An alphabet book he wrote illustrated by his wife Anita, in which she won the Caldecott Honor Award.

On Market Street
by Arnold Lobel
pictures by Anita Lobel
1982 Caldecott Honor Award
Each page is filled with objects that begin with that letter of the alphabet.


Arnold Lobel illustrated for many different famous children's authors. One of my favorite collaborations was with Charlotte Zolotow.

The Quarreling Book
by Charlotte Zolotow
pictures by Arnold Lobel
Each person acts gruff and cross with each other and each quarrelsome act is passed on from person to person until a little dog changes the course of things. This is a great book about a regular family. Who hasn't had a day like this?


It was a rainy gray morning, and Mr. James forgot to kiss Mrs. James good-bye when he left for the office. Mrs. James felt quite cross because of this and because the rain made the day so gray. So when Jonathan James came down for breakfast, she was sharp with him.

Someday
by Charlotte Zolotow
pictures by Arnold Lobel
A little girl talks about all the things she will do and be "someday". A very sweet book.

One last book, another favorite in my house growing up


The Magic Spectacles
by Lilian Moore
illustrated by Arnold Lobel

This is my end of Arnold Lobel books, but the list truly goes on and on. He wrote and illustrated many wonderful books.
Enjoy!