Once Upon a Northern Night by Jean E. Pendziwol & Illus by Isabella Arsenault

Isn't this an adorable cover?! 

Did you know Isabella Arsenault is from Montreal? So pretty much local. 

Once upon a northern night

while you lay sleeping,

wrapped in a downy blanket

I painted you a picture.

The things that happen in the night...

Once upon a northern night

a mother deer led her fawn 

around the silent birch

and traced

a wandering path

on my canvas of white.

They nuzzled the sleeping garden

with memories of summer,

then wandered off

ti taste the frozen fruit

still clinging to an apple tree. 

The poor fox who just wants to play with the hares....

Once upon a norther night

deep,

deep, 

in the darkest hours,

the snowy clouds crept away

and the stars appeared--

twinkling points of light

hanging in the purple sky. 

I knew by the time you woke

the sun would have chased them away;

so I set them like diamonds

on the branches of the willow. 

The writing is so poetic. The pictures so soft and gentle. 

Dreamy and fitting for talking of the things that happen at night in the winter. 

And then

I had the moon gently kiss you

and the wind whisper...

I love you. 

I am not entirely sure who the narrator is here--the earth? The night? The world at large? 

But whatever it is, it is gentle, kind, and loving. 

And then, the awakening. 

That first morning of waking up to a snow covered world..... 

Magic! 

The Gold Leaf by Kirsten Hall & Illus by Matthew Forsythe

This book was one I have been wanting to look at for a year or so now, but haven't got my hands on it until I was up in Alaska this summer. 

Interestingly, I always assumed this was a fall book because that is when leaves are gold. BUT it isn't! I am still going to pretend it is a fall book because it is about leaves. 

Winter

Spring! 

Jungle green, laurel green, moss green, mint green, pine green, avocado green, and, of course, sap green. 

So much green! 

A squirrel saw something non-green

A golden leaf. Which does not look golden in this picture. But it is. 

Suddenly everyone wanted the golden leaf.

A bird got to it first.

Then a chipmunk stole it away. 

Then a mousie caught it up...

(Don't you just love the colored backgrounds here?)

Finally, the leaf was in tatters on the ground. 

Finally, the golden bits of leaf floated away on the wind. 

Lost because of greed

I love this fall picture!

Winter wonderland

When spring came around again, the golden leaf was there again. 

But this time, they understood how to leave it alone and so everyone could enjoy it.

The Stranger in the Woods by Carl R Sams II & Jean Stoick

This is a book I have mixed feelings about. I love the concept, but somehow, I am not as captivated by it as I expected to be. 

And yes, my carrot looks really silly. I need something to hold the pages open, so it was useful, but it looks a bit pointless. Sigh. 

This book is about how animals respond to a "stranger" in the woods. After a lot of back and forthing from the animals, we discover that the stranger is a snowman. A snowman made especially for the animals with yummy things to eat. Who made this snowman?

A photograph of a photograph

For loving photography as much as I do, I am not as crazy about kids books with photographs as I should be. 

But this one is well done. 

General conference to decide who would approach the stranger.

The rabbit says "no sir-ee!" but the chickadee is brave and daring.

Then there is some arguing over who is best equipped to check the stranger out.  

"I am the strongest and the biggest," says the young buck.

"I can fly faster," chirped the cardinal.

Cautiously approaching.

Really, when you think of it, it is quite miraculous that they managed to coordinate the animal's arrival. Unless they used photoshop.....

I love chickadees.

The animals eat the snowman parts.

But wait, is there someone else?

Yeppers! A boy and his sister, spying on the animals. 

After the animals eat their fill, they replenish the animals and run home. 

I love the idea of making a snowman like this. I just am not enamoured with this book. However, it is a fun book to read to kids and have them suppose which animals would come first, what animals we would need to feed if we made one in our area. It might even be fun to make a snowman with animal food if we were allowed to. But that might be a bit complicated....

The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader

Here is another oldie but goodie. We had this book when I was a kid. It was definitely one of those books that sit on the shelf and don't get read very often. 

It is long. It really is. I read it to Pre-K the other day and ended up paraphrasing most of it. Because the kids were getting antsy. 

So if you read it to older kids, you should be good. It is a lovely book. Over the summer, I came across a box of books a teacher was discarding from her classroom library and found an old and battered copy of this book.

I was completely enchanted. There is something in the pictures, so pure and perfect, that pulls me in every time. 

Since the copy was old and battered and I adored the pictures, I decided to make a bulletin board of it. 

(Is it legal to use a book this way? I always have argued that it is, but now that I am in the public realm, I start realizing I need to actually be sure of these things.)

I pinterested how to make snowflakes. It was fun--for the first couple. 

This is the picture that wowed me when I opened the book. I mean look at those dear. So gorgeous.

This book follows a woodland of animals as they prepare for winter. From the first signs of autumn to the Big Snow.

The animals talk back and forth about what each one does for winter.

It is somewhat hokey, but beneath that, there is a lot of information about how animals deal with winter.

These pictures are such period pieces of the 1940's/50's. Those colors!

The first snow. Not the Big Snow, but the first snow. The animals frolic in the moonlight. 

Hello! I love animals frolicking in the moonlight.

There is a ring around the moon, so the wise old owl knows snow is on the way. 

The beginning of the Big Snow. Isn't this cute? All those snowflakes.

A world changed!

How does the snow affect the animals? 

Food hunting becomes life and death.

Hungry animals.

But there are kind people. 

And the animals quickly spread the news of food set out. 

Feasting! 

And the animals survive until spring comes to take the snow away.