Tales of Winter

Owl Moon
By Jane Yolen
Illustrated by John Schoenherr
Jane Yolen chose the words carefully for Owl Moon to evoke the sensations of being in the winter woods at night.  If you read slowly and thoughtfully, you can smell the crisp winter air, feel the cold in your cheeks, hear the sounds of boots breaking through the crust of snow. The dark silhouettes of tree branches visually contrast with the bright moon and blanket of snow.The story of a young girl, finally old enough to accompany her father into the woods at night to look for a great horned owl, is both warm and enthralling. When they return home after "owling", her wonder of nature and pride of having grown up stay with you. This book is a fine example for young writers of description and word choice in writing.The Audubon great horned owl toy below makes a hooting sound just like in Owl Moon.

The Snowy Day
By Ezra Jack Keats
Children who have experienced snow will be able to make a strong connection to Ezra Jack Keats' Caldecott winner "The Snowy Day". It is written from a young boy's perspective as he wakes up to a snowy world and proceeds to enjoy it as children everywhere do. The story simply relates the boy's experiences as he discovers the joys of snow when he makes footprints and snow angels, knocks it off tree branches and slides downhill on it. You can feel the comfort of a hot bath after a day in the snow and share in his thrill when he wakes up the next day to find that the snow is still there. No real snow? You can actually buy faux snow, shown below, that is water activated and can be reused!

Stranger in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy (Nature)
By Carl R. Sams and Jean Stoick
 Two children build a snowman in the woods, and curious animals come, one after another, to check out the stranger. Edible features make him attractive to the wildlife, and each encounter is captured on film. This book has won many awards, and would be a wonderful inspiration for children to write about how it would feel to be either one of the animals or the snowman "stranger".




Story Props for "Owl Moon", "The Snowy Day" and "Stranger in the Woods"