Winter Wonderland KidLit Books & Activities

Enter into a Winter Wonderland
and experience all the fun the season has to offer!
Begin your Adventures in the Snow and the Cold
with these picture books and activities!

We KNOW the 1960’s CLASSIC

READ

Andrea Davis Pinkney’s lyrical picture book biography,

A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats
and the Creation of The Snowy Day,

 about author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats and the creation of his book THE SNOWY DAY.  

About the Book

A celebration of the extraordinary life of Ezra Jack Keats, creator of The Snowy Day. The story of The Snowy Day begins more than one hundred years ago when Ezra Jack Keats was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. The family was struggling Polish immigrants, and despite Keats’s obvious talent, his father worried that Ezra’s dream of being an artist was an unrealistic one. But Ezra was determined. By high school, he was winning prizes and scholarships. Later, jobs followed with the WPA and Marvel comics. But it was many years before Keats’s greatest dream was realized and he had the opportunity to write and illustrate his own book. For more than two decades, Ezra had kept pinned to his wall a series of photographs of an adorable African American child. In Keats’s hands, the boy morphed into Peter, a boy in a red snowsuit, out enjoying the pristine snow; the book became The Snowy Day, winner of the Caldecott Medal, the first mainstream book to feature an African American child. It was also the first of many books featuring Peter and the children of his — and Keats’s — neighborhood. Andrea Davis Pinkney’s lyrical narrative tells the inspiring story of a boy who pursued a dream, and who, in turn, inspired generations of other dreamers.

WATCH StoryMakers: Andrea Davis Pinkney

LISTEN to our KidLit RADIO Podcast with Andrea Davis Pinkney 

READ

A Sled For Gabo

written by Emma Otheguy and illustrated by Ana Ramirez Gonzalez

About the Book

The Snowy Day meets Last Stop on Market Street in this heartwarming classic in the making about a young boy who is in a new town and doesn’t have much, but with the help of a loving community discovers the joys of his first snowy day.

On the day it snows, Gabo sees kids tugging sleds up the hill, then coasting down, whooping all the while. Gabo wishes he could join them, but his hat is too small, and he doesn’t have boots or a sled.

But he does have warm and welcoming neighbors in his new town who help him solve the problem in the sweetest way possible!

DOWNLOAD A Sled for Gabo Activity Sheet from Emma Otheguy

The Snow Dancer

written by Addie Boswell and illustrated by Merce Lopez

About the Book

Sofia wakes up to a quiet, white world—it’s a snow day! She makes her way outside to the neighborhood park, where a field awaits her, white and shining and open. It isn’t long before the rest of the neighborhood wakes its sleepy head—and the other kids make their way to the park, scattering all of Sofia’s beautiful silence. But with the help of a new young friend, Sofia is ready to show everyone what a snow dancer can do on a perfect day like this. With lyrical language and gorgeous art, this book sparkles.

Make Your Own SNOW!

Click Here to make Homemade Fake Snow from

READ

Peg + Cat: The Penguin Problem

by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson

About the Book

Skiing past hurdles can be a problem when you don’t know your over, under, and in between. Peg and Cat to the rescue!

Peg and Cat are at the South Pole preparing to watch the ski race at the Animal Winter Games. Suddenly they spy the Penguins zooming downhill. CRASH! The Penguins apologize (“Snow problem,” says Cat), but it seems that there is a problem: the Penguins keep slamming into things! So they all try again, with Peg shouting directions each time they come to a hurdle. “Go over! Go under! Go in between!” But the Penguins still have no clue, because they don’t know what over, under, and in between mean. Luckily, Cat points out some directional arrows to follow, and a problem is solved . . . for the moment. Now can anyone figure out how to keep the ice floe the Penguins have landed on from tilting?

CLICK HERE for Activities and Games from PBS Kids!

WATCH and LISTEN to

READ OUT LOUD: Peg + Cat The Penguin Problem

 

WATCH StoryMakers: Peg + Cat The Penguin Problem

READ This Place Is Cold

written by Vicki Cobb and illustrated by Barbara Lavallee

Gift Shop Books :: Children's Books :: Animals :: Polar Animals :: This Place Is Cold: An Imagine Living Here book - paracay.com Wholesale Books

About the Book

Can you imaging living in a place where it’s so cold your breath turns instantly into tiny ice crystals that glitter in the sun? Where temperatures can drop fifty degrees below zero and even lower and the sun only comes out for a few hours per day? In This Place Is Cold readers will learn how people and animals survive in Alaska’s ferocious cold, and how because of global warming this region is now in trouble. Vicki Cobb and Barbara Lavallee traveled the world together to research this groundbreaking geography series, which is now updated and redesigned to appeal to today’s readers.

CLICK HERE to Learn About Polar Bears!

Author Vicki Cobb presents fun interesting facts about Polar Bears

on  NONFICTION MINUTE

Find what animals are in your area in the winter!

Make Plaster Casts of Animal Footprints

from

Make sure you have all that you need before going outside!

MEGAN CAHILL-ASSENZA – is from Northport, NY, and a recent Children’s Literature Fellow from Stony Brook University. A writer, filmmaker, and animal lover, Megan is pursuing a career in children’s literature. She currently works in the Academic Tutoring Center at Suffolk County Community College.
Connect with Megan!  Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

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