Children's Book Review: Animals in Winter

Are you looking for a book for your animal-loving child that also reflects the winter season? Then this book is for you!

Animals in Winter is a National Geographic book written by Ron Fisher. The book was published all the way back in 1982, but thanks to the high-quality images National Geographic is known for, the book is still highly relevant today!

The book takes the readers into the lives of different animals of North America, giving a brief description of how that animal gets through the winter months. It tells how some animals hibernate and some migrate, while others grow thicker fur or feathers to get through those cold months. The book also discusses what the animals eat through the winter, whether they collect food in the fall or if they hunt in the snow.

I love this book because of the high-quality photographs and the many full-body images it has of various animals. I love that the writing lightly touches on many animals, leaving the book to be a great conversation point between child and adult. There is great vocabulary and the overview given of the animals is wonderful to spark interest and conversation. With just a brief description of each animal, it really lends itself to asking questions and the ability to bond together with the child over learning more information about an animal together. It is also great because a younger child can be introduced to new animals and get a brief understanding of the animal, leading to a base understanding for future interest.

This book is also great for the classroom for a larger group of children because it is a quick read and can spark questions for a conversation game later one on one. It can be difficult to hold the attention of a group of young children due to the varied interests of each child, but it’s hard to go wrong with animals and snow!

A final consideration of what I love about this book, it briefly discusses what birds eat in the winter and touches on the idea of offering seeds to birds that are in your yard in the wintertime. This is a wonderful way to connect on another level with the book, by connecting what you are reading together and how you can treat nature. A wonderful activity to do after reading the book together would be to make bird feeders together! The classic pine cone with peanut butter and seeds would be great. Another option could be a slice of apple on a string with sun butter and sunflower seeds. This feeder could be hung up near a window, bringing birds close by for a wonderful show of the nature that is right in your own backyard!

This book is a great book for children 2.5 to 6 years old. It would be a wonderful addition to anyone’s library. This book is a great way to connect nature and the winter season and coupled with a little project to really bring the book alive, this could become a childhood staple!

You can find the book here.

Have you read this book? How have your children liked or disliked this book? What other books does your family enjoy that combined animals and winter?