Book Nook - When It Starts to Snow

It is currently about 11 degrees here in Central Ohio, and we have a bunch of snow from yesterday's storm.  It was so pretty, but very cold, this morning & Little Dude and I just sat on the couch and watched the beautiful soft light of a mid-December sunrise.  Tiny snowflakes were gently falling & it was so cozy & wintry.  He & I were just chatting & he asked about "Crawly," his woolly bear.  Did I blog about our woolly bears?  I can't remember, but in case I didn't, we currently have 2 woolly bear caterpillars hibernating at our residence.  I explained to Little Dude that Crawly is hibernating, and I couldn't help but think of this week's Book Nook book.

When It Starts to Snow by Phillis Gershator is a sweet book about what various animals do when the snow starts to fall.  Throughout the book, there is a very catchy phrase that keeps repeating:  "what if it starts to snow?  What do you do?  Where do you go?"  And then each animal tells us how/where it hibernates.  Or maybe not - some animals (like the barnyard animals featured) just hang out in a warm place.  Did you know that turtles and frogs go deep into the mud to hibernate?  I didn't know that & had never really thought about what they do in the Winter.  Or how about stoats?  What's a stoat, you ask....check out this link.  There's lots of great information in this book, so even adults can learn a thing or two here - I did!

There is a little boy we catch glimpses of throughout the book & at the end, he gets a chance to tell us what he does when it snows.

I just love the illustrations, done by Martin Matje.  All of his animals are interesting to look at & cute, but not over-the-top cute.  I like the fact that there's a great deal of browns & grays, along with the white snow.  It feels just like a cold, snowy day.  Just like the one we experienced yesterday, as a matter of fact!

This is a very timely read about animals in the Winter.  I really like how the book approaches the subject - the rhyming words and variety of animals in it are just right for little ones.  Read it to your child on a cold, blustery day (while all the woolly bears snooze away)!

Cheryl