If there’s one thing Colorado kids know, it’s how to have fun in the snow. When it’s time to come in from the cold, snuggle up with these wonderful winter stories.
My Footprints
By Bao Phi; illustrated by Basia Tran (Capstone, 2019)
As a Vietnamese American girl who has two moms, Thuy feels different, and is bullied at school. One snowy day as she walks home, she channels her feelings by imagining herself as different animals and mimicking what their prints would look like. When she gets home, her moms join her in finding power through love and imagination. Recommended by Denver Public Library children’s librarian, Liesel Schmidt.
Over and Under the Snow
By Kate Messner; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal (Chronicle Books, 2014)
While on a cross-country ski trip with her father, a little girl wonders how animals survive the harsh cold. Illustrations depict below-ground views of animals coping with winter. The book also includes scientific facts about animal adaptations.
Cozy
By Jan Brett (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020)
Bestselling author of winter-themed The Mitten and The Trouble with Trolls, Jan Brett’s latest wintertime read, Cozy, is based on her trip to a musk ox farm in Alaska. The story follows a musk ox and other furry animals that burrow under his fur to keep warm through the winter.
Just So Willow
By Sara F. Shacter; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis (Sterling Publishing 2019)
Willow likes everything “just so”—neat and tidy and perfect in her mind. When snow falls, she loves seeing the crisp, white blanket across her backyard. She gets upset when she sees neighbors playing in the snow, making it a lumpy bumpy mess. In the end, she realizes that frolicking in the snow can be just as perfect, too.
A Fox Found a Box
By Ged Adamson (Schwartz and Wade, 2019)
Book specialist Pam Martin, at Grandrabbit’s Toy Shoppe, suggests this title about a fox who finds a radio buried in the snow. All the forest animals begin to listen; sometimes it makes them feel dreamy, while sometimes they rock out. When the radio stops working, the story becomes a meditation on learning how to pay attention to the sounds of nature.
Small Walt Spots Dot
By Elizabeth Verdick; illustrated by Marc Rosenthal (Paula Wiseman Books, 2020)
Walt the snowplow and his driver Gus are plowing a parking lot when they spy a dog in need of a new home. The third book in the Small Walt series, it’s a fun read-aloud with simple text that both dog- and vehicle-loving kids will enjoy during winter months.
The Tomten
By Astrid Lindgren; illustrated by Harald Wiberg (Puffin Books, 1997)
Based on Swedish folklore, The Tomten features a troll who makes nighttime visits to a farm to help care for the animals, and gives the inhabitants hope for spring. “After reading this book as a child, I’d greet any snowy morning with eager excitement, hoping to see the Tomten’s footprints outside our windows,” says Lara Hnizdo, library specialist at the Boulder Public Library.
Librarians and book experts also recommend:
- After The Snowfall by Rich Lo
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
- In My Anaana’s Amautik by Nadia Sammurtok; illustrated by Lenny Lishchenko
- Iguanas in the Snow by Francisco X. Alarcón; illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez
- Cat on the Bus by Aram Kim
- Snoozapalooza by Kimberlee Gard; illustrated by Vivian Mineker
- Before Morning by Joyce Sidman; illustrated by Beth Krommes
- Snow Birds by Kirsten Hall; illustrated by Jenni Desmond
- Bear is Awake! By Hannah E. Harrison
- Snow Friends by Margery Cuyler; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
- The Trouble with Penguins by Rebecca Jordan-Glum
- Snow Scene by Richard Jackson & Laura Vaccaro Seeger
- Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Pak
- Share Some Kindness, Bring Some Light by Apryl Stott
- Snow by Sam Usher
- The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper; illustrated by Carson Ellis
- Bears in the Snow By Shirley Parenteau; illustrated by David Walker
- Little Snowplow Wishes for Snow by Lora Koehler; illustrated by Jake Parker
- S is for Snow by Ashley Mireles
- A Polar Bear in the Snow by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Shawn Harris
- Little Fox in the Snow by Jonathan London; illustrated by Daniel Miyares
- Once Upon a Winter Day by Liza Woodruff
- A Winter Walk in the City by Cathy Goldberg Fishman; illustrated by Melanie Hall
- Slide and Surprise in the Snow by Natalie Marshall
- Bunny Slopes by Claudia Rueda
- The Way Past Winter by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
- Baby Bear’s Not Hibernating by Lynn Plourde; illustrated by Teri Weidner
- Snow Song by A.K. Riley; illustrated by Dawn Lo
- Hockey in the Wild by Nicholas Oldland
- Tea Party in the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi
- Snow by Cynthia Rylant; illustrated by Lauren Stringer
My Footprints: Capstone. Over and Under the Snow: Chronicle Books. Cozy, A Fox Found a Box, The Tomten: Penguin Random House. Just So Willow: Sterling Publishing. Small Walt Spots Dot: Simon & Schuster.
