When Winter Comes: Discovering Wildlife in Our Snowy Woods

PreS-Gr 2–As one intrepid human family goes to the woods to play on a snowy day, readers are privy to all the ingenious and hidden shelters that animals create during the harsh, cold months. The family, whose members are white, ducks behind a fallen log during a playful snowball fight, where readers see a group of tree frogs sheltering within. When they snowshoe through the woods, intricate tunnels are shown below them, made by mice who are looking for seeds and bark. The frozen lake, where they ice fish, is actually hosting a “slushy slumber party of sleepily swimming rainbow trout.” Though it may look as if the woods are empty in winter, Bissonette (North Woods Girl) creatively displays how they are not. Hourigan’s joyful illustrations will encourage children to take a closer look at the world around them.