Winter time is here and here are eleven board books about winter for kids under 5.
Is eleven a weird number? Yes. But eleven is what I have for you and your little readers.
These are all perfect for small children (and school-age children) with delightful illustration and wonderful text.
A gang of forest animals prepare for the winter when they smell snow in the air. Owl ruffles her feathers and states that snow is in the air. Canadian geese, a moose, a bear, a hare and her bunnies, and a fox must get ready for the winter.
Lilting text and bright illustrations show kids what happens to animals in the winter. A simple introduction to hibernation, migration and camoflauge.
Second in our list of board books about winter is this delightful one perfect for little ones to read to themselves.
I love these books of few text where we get to make up the story ourselves.
A Red Sled is a delightful story about a little girl (or boy) who leaves her/his red sled outside when he goes to sleep. Through the night, a bear discovers the sled and eventually an entire group of woodland creatures delight in racing down the hill. In the morning, the little boy/girl sees the paw prints leading from the sled and wonders what went on.
The end is cute and surprising.
You know Axel Scheffler very well if you have read any Julia Donalsdon books (which you should read because we love them all). You will recognize his illustrations in a heartbeat.
He is the only credit on this series from the publishing house Nosy Crow which means it was written in-house. I always feel that if a book is simply mass-produced and written by a non-credited author is must be terrible. But that isn’t the case here. Everything we get from Nosy Crow we highly enjoy.
Not to say Pip & Posy are the best written books, but they are so lovlingly illustrated and are perfect example of picture walking books for littles (as in kids can read the pictures).
Mama bear leaves the safety and coziness of her den to venture out into the cold on a dark Arctic night. She passes all these things of wonder: northern lights, bright red berries, and salmon jumping in the cold water – all the time searching out for something.
What could be so important to her that she leaves her home? Her baby cub of course! Who is lost and needs his mummy.
The fifth board book about winter for kids is one close to my heart. I think I read this with George hundreds of times when he was two.
I absolutely love this book. It’s about two best friend red birds who are very similar but not exactly alike. They venture out on one winter afternoon seeing things that are almost almost but not quite alike: snowflakes, nests, feathers, other woodland creatures.
The lesson is lovely especially in todays crazy world. I want my kids to see that people, like the little birds, are the same in so many ways but have little differences in the colour of our skin or what we believe in.
This board book about winter is perfect for when we are all waiting for winter. My kids are desperate for snow They could go sledding every single day.
Badger is patiently waiting for the snow and his little friend Hedgehog keeps reminding him to be patient: snow always comes just like the sun always rises. Along with a cute little troupe of characters like possum, skunk and rabbit – the forest friends come up with different tricks to bring on the snow. As soon as they’ve tired themselves out, the snow arrives, just like Hedgehog said it would.
When I first started reading this, I thought it was in the voice of the little girl excited for the first snow or her parents, but quickly realized it was a snowman telling the story.
Of course – silly me! It is kids, after all, that give life to a snowman each time it snows.
Remember that ad that played before movies for a while? The one where the girl stored her snowman in the fridge over the summer and would sit and watch movies with him? The one that made you sob like a baby everytime you saw it? Or was that just me? It was called Lily & the Snowman and you can watch it here.
Anyways, this book reminds me of that commercial. The bonds of friendship, the waiting through the seasons and the anticipation of winter.
Two separate books for two different parts of the day.
One for saying good night and one for saying good morning (pretty self-explanatory).
I love many of Lauren Thompson books for their simplicity and gentle storylines. Perfect for toddlers!
In this duo, little polar bear walks and discovers the joys of both times of the day.
In this book, we see how different animals prepare for winter. From the rabbit who changes her fur, to geese that fly south, and to sheep that keep their wooly coat. All the animals know that when the snow has melted spring has arrived including the rabbit who is now brown.
This is a lovely story about a boy and his dog.
It’s a snowy day and a boy takes his dog, his suitcase and his red sled for a walk. The dog chases his tail, a blue jay and a bunny before racing to the top of the hill where he waits patiently. When the boy gets to the top of the hill, the duo play making snow angels and a snow dog. Finally, the boy opens his suitcase and takes out a book that he reads to his dog. And then of course the two race home on the red sled.
We love all of Sam Usher’s season books.
In the winter one, Sam is dying to get out of his house for first tracks in the newly fallen snow but must wait for Grandad to get ready. He watches as other kids, dogs and even zoo animals stomp past his house before they are both ready to go outside.
When they finally do, they discover a wonderful snow party at the park where Grandad is the best snowball maker/thrower around.
Now you have eleven board books about winter for your list! We are all still in some sort of lockdown this winter, so reading might be the best way to escape.
Enjoy the reading snuggles, the cosy socks and hot chocolate by the fire.
Happy Reading,
Curious in Wonderland
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