When Winter Comes

I've raved over Susan Gaber's illustrations here and here before.  Check out another of her illustrated books (c. 2000) with words by Nancy Van Laan.

Kids are mesmerized by When Winter Comes!  Nana reads it to her class each winter.  And my child came home from kindergarten a few weeks ago, exclaiming that her teacher read "one of my favorite books to the whole class today!"  Yep, I think that teacher's pretty brilliant (especially as her students were just returning from winter break) because you see this read has quite the calming effect (like the gentle cadences of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening).  Catch a glimpse of it in the rhyme and repetition:

Where oh where do the leaves all go
when winter comes and the cold winds blow?
(next page)
The leaves go tumble
tumbling down.
Snow is their blanket.
Their bed is the ground.

So check it out, and tell me, which part do you like best: the soothing rhythm of VanLaan's rhyme or Gaber's soft snowy acrylic paintings or just the complete cozy, snugly, fireside experience of reading it to your child?

Thanksgiving Favorites

Rush to the library and check out our family's Thanksgiving favorites 

(click on the typed book title underneath the picture to read my reviews):

Thanksgiving Is Here! by Diane Goode (c. 2003)

Over the River and Through the Wood by Lydia Maria Child illustrated by Brinton Turkle (c. 1974 )

The Very First Thanksgiving Day by Rhonda Gowler Greene paintings Susan Gaber (c. 2002)

Storms

Hi, readers!  It seems that we've had evenings filled with thunderstorms with very few exceptions.  And in trying to make the moments a fun-filled, memorable time instead of a fearful time of skirting thunder and lightning, I found these two reads that the kids have enjoyed. 

In Waiting Out the Storm (c. 2010), author JoAnn Early Macken cleverly captures the dialogue between mother and child.  She faithfully represents the uncertainty of the child experiencing the approaching storm as well as a mother's tender responses to quell her child's alarm:

They burst from the cloud,

skipping and leaping and laughing out loud.

They spin and they tumble.  They bounce on the breeze.

They dance to the tune of the wind in the trees.

Susan Gaber's beautiful illustrations further illuminate the peacefulness a storm can bring.  This is by far our favorite "storm" book due to Macken's reassuring text and Gaber's comforting illustrations.

Margaret Bloy Graham's illustrations make The Storm Book (c.1952) by Charlotte Zolotow worth checking out.  Graham received a Caldecott Honor for her panoramic illustrations.  The publishers uniquely presented the story by placing the text alone on each spread, and then by placing the follow-up picture.  At first I didn't know what to think of the presentation.  However, I grew to like the perspective of allowing our imaginations to run wild with Zolotow's text before seeing the motion in Graham's illustrations.

The Very First Thanksgiving Day

The Very First Thanksgiving Day by Rhonda Gowler Greene with paintings done by Susan Gaber (copyright 2002) was quite a hit with the kids!  The story follows a rhythm comparable to "This is the House that Jack Built" with its own clever rhymes.  Greene begins her story in the classical literary technique in medias res ("in the middle of things") with "This is the very first Thanksgiving day" and builds her story backward to England and then again forward to the first feast, making this version a unique approach in retelling the Thanksgiving story.

Once again, I have been stunned by the artwork!  I could just sit and look at this book again and again!  Gaber does a beautiful job of depicting the brilliant colors of the Pilgrims' natural-dyed clothing.  And your kids will delight in the frequent images of children throughout Gaber's illustrations.  Have your children search for the Pilgrim and Wampanoag dolls throughout the story and discover the themes of thanksgiving and sharing through visual representation.  Don't miss the author and illustrator's notes at the beginning for fascinating background information.