The First Day Of Winter

As the children run, roll, and play in the frozen beauty of winter's day, the winter woods come alive as well as raven and otter slide on ice, snapping turtles swim underneath, and birds swoop by overhead.

Kindergarten-Grade 2–An introduction to various aspects of winter, using the pattern of The Twelve Days of Christmas. Each verse faces an oval illustration of children engaged in different activities, along with a suggested action, e.g., Identify seven sorts of leafless trees, dormant for the winter. The illustrations lack spontaneity and charm, and the characters' facial features are awkwardly drawn. The exercises, called challenges, on each spread are difficult to accomplish, but fun to attempt. Determining an audience for the book is difficult. The text indicates that it is for young children: On the sixth day of winter,/as snowflakes fill the air,/six warm and woolly mittens/are just the thing to wear. But the accompanying challenge, to Find six different kinds of snowflakes, is problematic. The names of the snowflakes are set in minute type in the oval frame of the picture. An appendix, What Happens on Winter Days? provides the information. By attempting too much, this title accomplishes too little.–Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY
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Gr. 1--3. Although the format is occasionally distracting, this book brims with interesting information about what happens above and beneath the ground when the earth turns cold. The book, which plays off the familiar Christmas song, offers a bit of a game. On the first day of winter, readers are told to look for one tall tree that stays green all year long. The boy asking the questions is pictured within an oval frame, and the answer is written on the frame. The evergreen tree is a part of the snowy farm scene that is the background art. On the second day of winter, two children on a sled, who are framed in the oval, tell readers to look for two more sliders. Sharp-eyed kids will see a bird and an otter. Each two-page spread follows a similar pattern. Some of the figures in the art are stiff, but the flora and fauna are handsomely portrayed, all standing out against the white, bright snow. An afterword gives an overview of animals' winter behavior. Ilene Cooper
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