A Winter Wonderland of Reading

This past weekend saw our first snowfall of the season.  While the snow didn't last but an hour or two, it did bring back fond memories of some of my favorite children's books that take place during the winter . . .

The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
On his eleventh birthday Will Stanton discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones, destined to seek the six magical Signs that will enable the Old Ones to triumph over the evil forces of the Dark.

The Leanin' Dog by K.A. Nuzum
In wintry Colorado during the 1930s, eleven-year-old Dessa Dean mourns the death of her beloved mother, but the arrival of an injured dog and the friendship they form is just what they need to change their lives forever.

North by Donna Jo Napoli
Tired of his mother's overprotectiveness and intrigued by the life of African American explorer Matthew Henson, twelve-year-old Alvin travels north and spends a season with a trapper near the Arctic Circle.

Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library by Eth Clifford
Two girls spend an adventurous night trapped inside the public library during a terrible blizzard.

Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ellen Bryan Obed
From the first ice, a thin skin on a bucket of water, through thickly-iced fields, streams, and gardens, a girl, her family, and friends anticipate and enjoy a winter of skating, ending with an ice show complete with costumes, refreshments, and clowns.


More Winter Stories --
Blackwater Ben by William Durbin
The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin
The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Winter According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birtney
The Winter Pony by Iain Lawrence

Snow! Snow! And More Snow! - Part 3

Well, I've shared some of my favorite picture books and teen books about snow.  Now it's time for some chapter books . . .

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura and her family must survive a winter in which it is one blizzard after another.  The trains are stuck in the snow and they can't get any more supplies.  The coal is all gone as is the wood.  And there is precious little food left. 

The Leanin' Dog by K.A. Nuzum
Dessa and her father have been grieving her mother's death.  Dessa isn't allowed to go into town or even really leave the yard of their house.  Then an injured dog arrives and helps Dessa and her father to move on.


The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo
Gwyn was given five gifts by his grandmother on his ninth birthday in the hopes that they will show him how to become a magician.  When he releases the gifts to the winds he is given a spider in return -- a special spider that shows him a snowy, icy land where his sister seems to have gone.