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Seasons
The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice
The beginning of winter is marked by the solstice, the shortest day of the year. Long ago, people grew afraid when each day had fewer hours of sunshine than the day before. Over time, they realized that one day each year the sun started moving toward them again. In lyrical prose and cozy illustrations, this book explains what the winter solstice is and how it has been observed by various cultures throughout history. Many contemporary holiday traditions were borrowed from ancient solstice celebrations. Simple science activities, ideas for celebrating the day in school and at home, and a further-reading list are included.
Illustrated by Jesse Reisch.
Illustrated by Jesse Reisch.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published September 22, 2003
2 people are currently reading
593 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Pfeffer
75 books27 followersWendy Pfeffer is an award winning author of many children’s books. A former teacher and nursery school director, Mrs. Pfeffer lives in Pennington, New Jersey. In addition to writing, she continues to teach writing and visit schools to share her work.
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December 20, 2025
An informational book with appendices about how families can celebrate the solstice. I also just read The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper and Carson Ellis, featuring Cooper's poem and some magical artwork. Cooper and Ellis's book is the more lyrical one, Pfeffer and Reisch's the more prosaic (though some lyricism can be found in Reisch's illustrations), but I tend to think they would be great for a family and/or classroom to read in tandem, one with more background information, the other highlighting the magic of this ritual celebration day.
Jay, in the comments below, points us to yet another Winter Solstice celebration/reflection:
A Nocturnal Upon St. Lucy's Day
John Donne
'Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's,
Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;
The sun is spent, and now his flasks
Send forth light squibs, no constant rays;
The world's whole sap is sunk;
The general balm th' hydroptic earth hath drunk,
Whither, as to the bed's feet, life is shrunk,
Dead and interr'd; yet all these seem to laugh,
Compar'd with me, who am their epitaph.
Study me then, you who shall lovers be
At the next world, that is, at the next spring;
For I am every dead thing,
In whom Love wrought new alchemy.
For his art did express
A quintessence even from nothingness,
From dull privations, and lean emptiness;
He ruin'd me, and I am re-begot
Of absence, darkness, death: things which are not.
All others, from all things, draw all that's good,
Life, soul, form, spirit, whence they being have;
I, by Love's limbec, am the grave
Of all that's nothing. Oft a flood
Have we two wept, and so
Drown'd the whole world, us two; oft did we grow
To be two chaoses, when we did show
Care to aught else; and often absences
Withdrew our souls, and made us carcasses.
But I am by her death (which word wrongs her)
Of the first nothing the elixir grown;
Were I a man, that I were one
I needs must know; I should prefer,
If I were any beast,
Some ends, some means; yea plants, yea stones detest,
And love; all, all some properties invest;
If I an ordinary nothing were,
As shadow, a light and body must be here.
But I am none; nor will my sun renew.
You lovers, for whose sake the lesser sun
At this time to the Goat is run
To fetch new lust, and give it you,
Enjoy your summer all;
Since she enjoys her long night's festival,
Let me prepare towards her, and let me call
This hour her vigil, and her eve, since this
Both the year's, and the day's deep midnight is.
Jay, in the comments below, points us to yet another Winter Solstice celebration/reflection:
A Nocturnal Upon St. Lucy's Day
John Donne
'Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's,
Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;
The sun is spent, and now his flasks
Send forth light squibs, no constant rays;
The world's whole sap is sunk;
The general balm th' hydroptic earth hath drunk,
Whither, as to the bed's feet, life is shrunk,
Dead and interr'd; yet all these seem to laugh,
Compar'd with me, who am their epitaph.
Study me then, you who shall lovers be
At the next world, that is, at the next spring;
For I am every dead thing,
In whom Love wrought new alchemy.
For his art did express
A quintessence even from nothingness,
From dull privations, and lean emptiness;
He ruin'd me, and I am re-begot
Of absence, darkness, death: things which are not.
All others, from all things, draw all that's good,
Life, soul, form, spirit, whence they being have;
I, by Love's limbec, am the grave
Of all that's nothing. Oft a flood
Have we two wept, and so
Drown'd the whole world, us two; oft did we grow
To be two chaoses, when we did show
Care to aught else; and often absences
Withdrew our souls, and made us carcasses.
But I am by her death (which word wrongs her)
Of the first nothing the elixir grown;
Were I a man, that I were one
I needs must know; I should prefer,
If I were any beast,
Some ends, some means; yea plants, yea stones detest,
And love; all, all some properties invest;
If I an ordinary nothing were,
As shadow, a light and body must be here.
But I am none; nor will my sun renew.
You lovers, for whose sake the lesser sun
At this time to the Goat is run
To fetch new lust, and give it you,
Enjoy your summer all;
Since she enjoys her long night's festival,
Let me prepare towards her, and let me call
This hour her vigil, and her eve, since this
Both the year's, and the day's deep midnight is.
December 21, 2018
I have loved reading these 4 Season book by Wendy Pfeffer. I’m finishing the year with the Shortest day on the shortest day of the year. It is probably one of my favorite days of the year. I love short days and long cold nights.
When I used to walk to work, I would love to walk home and see the warm lights on in people’s windows and see how cozy the people were inside. It gave me this warm glow inside myself. I love being able to sleep early and get more rest and take life at a slower pace. To calm it down. I know people with kids go 100 miles a minute in December. I love the lights everyone puts up. This time of year is so special and I love finding ways to celebrate and honor those quiet times of the year. It’s like nature says “Ok, dear ones, you’ve worked hard all year long. Now you need to slow down and rest.”
We talk about this in school. SAD is now a thing = seasonal affective disorder. We say, the body is simply trying to slow the person down. SADs is part of our lives being out of balance. We need to spend more time in bed and rest and rejuvenate so we can pop up in the spring like the crocus. Feeling down and blue is natural this time of year.
This one does go into a few ancient cultural traditions on the Winter Solstice, but it doesn’t do as many as the other books. I love celebrating this Solstice. I used to be part of a Sweat Lodge in Michigan and we always did a prayer on the Winter Solstice in the dark and usually with snow on the ground and it was the best sweat lodge of the year. It was my favorite and the most powerful too.
The world is exhaling breath right now. Now is the time to plan our goals for the next 6 months that will come to fruition at the summer solstice.
I would like to own these books by Wendy. They are wonderful. The kids enjoy them too. They do like the activities at the end of the book and each time we have either backed the recipe or done some of the things. They want to measure their shadow on Dec. 21st and see how long it is. They both gave this 3 stars.
When I used to walk to work, I would love to walk home and see the warm lights on in people’s windows and see how cozy the people were inside. It gave me this warm glow inside myself. I love being able to sleep early and get more rest and take life at a slower pace. To calm it down. I know people with kids go 100 miles a minute in December. I love the lights everyone puts up. This time of year is so special and I love finding ways to celebrate and honor those quiet times of the year. It’s like nature says “Ok, dear ones, you’ve worked hard all year long. Now you need to slow down and rest.”
We talk about this in school. SAD is now a thing = seasonal affective disorder. We say, the body is simply trying to slow the person down. SADs is part of our lives being out of balance. We need to spend more time in bed and rest and rejuvenate so we can pop up in the spring like the crocus. Feeling down and blue is natural this time of year.
This one does go into a few ancient cultural traditions on the Winter Solstice, but it doesn’t do as many as the other books. I love celebrating this Solstice. I used to be part of a Sweat Lodge in Michigan and we always did a prayer on the Winter Solstice in the dark and usually with snow on the ground and it was the best sweat lodge of the year. It was my favorite and the most powerful too.
The world is exhaling breath right now. Now is the time to plan our goals for the next 6 months that will come to fruition at the summer solstice.
I would like to own these books by Wendy. They are wonderful. The kids enjoy them too. They do like the activities at the end of the book and each time we have either backed the recipe or done some of the things. They want to measure their shadow on Dec. 21st and see how long it is. They both gave this 3 stars.
November 1, 2008
Pagan parents can't be too choosy when looking for books celebrating the sabbats. Still, I was hoping for more from this Winter Solstice book for children. It comes across as a bit dry and soul-less, a factual account of something that means a lot more to us than simply that it is the shortest day of the year. Nothing thrilling here, but I'm thankful for it as an addition to my library all the same.
December 19, 2018
One of four picture-books that Wendy Pfeffer has penned, exploring the major dates of the solar calendar - the Winter Solstice (here), the Spring Equinox (
A New Beginning
), the Summer Solstice (
The Longest Day
), and the Autumn Equinox (
We Gather Together
) - The Shortest Day first addresses itself to the question of what the solstice is, astronomically speaking, before discussing some of the cultural observations and customs, from around the world, that accompany it. The simple text touches upon the coming of winter, and how this is connected to the earth's tilted axis, as it orbits the sun, before moving on to the perception of this time of year, and its celebration, in ancient China, classical Rome, and medieval Europe. The Swedish St. Lucia's Day is mentioned, as is the Incan festival to honor the sun.
I found The Shortest Day to be a rather frustrating book, in some ways, and only awarded it three stars because there are so few children's titles devoted to the Winter Solstice, making it, despite its flaws, an important resource. I know that it is intended for younger children, but the text felt a little too simplistic to me, particularly as it concerned the cultural celebrations connected to this time of year. Why is St. Lucia's Day named, when the Incan festival (Inti Raymi, I assume) is not? Could it be because Inti Raymi occurs in June, and this would point to the inverse nature of the solstices, in the southern hemisphere? No mention was made, to my great disappointment, of some of the astonishing neolithic tombs - chief amongst them, Newgrange, in Ireland's Co. Meath - that were built around the Winter Solstice, and seem to indicate religious ideas connected to this point in the calendar. The passage on the Druids of England and Ireland, while not necessarily untrue, felt rather confused/confusing to me. One thousand years ago, Christianity was well on its way to being firmly established in both countries, and while scholars continue to debate issues of pagan cultural survival, Pfeffer's brief comment about what Druids were doing "1000 years ago" could create a very misleading impression in young readers' minds.
It's been a while since I've read Pfeffer's other seasonal titles, but I don't recall having the same objections to either of her equinox books (I've yet to read her Summer Solstice one). I'd still recommend The Shortest Day, because despite its flaws - which are owing more to inadequate, rather than incorrect information - it is one of only a few children's books devoted to the Winter Solstice, and includes a number of activities that look both fun and informative, but only with the caveat that educators and parents might want to do a little research, and have a more complete understanding of some of the information presented here.
I found The Shortest Day to be a rather frustrating book, in some ways, and only awarded it three stars because there are so few children's titles devoted to the Winter Solstice, making it, despite its flaws, an important resource. I know that it is intended for younger children, but the text felt a little too simplistic to me, particularly as it concerned the cultural celebrations connected to this time of year. Why is St. Lucia's Day named, when the Incan festival (Inti Raymi, I assume) is not? Could it be because Inti Raymi occurs in June, and this would point to the inverse nature of the solstices, in the southern hemisphere? No mention was made, to my great disappointment, of some of the astonishing neolithic tombs - chief amongst them, Newgrange, in Ireland's Co. Meath - that were built around the Winter Solstice, and seem to indicate religious ideas connected to this point in the calendar. The passage on the Druids of England and Ireland, while not necessarily untrue, felt rather confused/confusing to me. One thousand years ago, Christianity was well on its way to being firmly established in both countries, and while scholars continue to debate issues of pagan cultural survival, Pfeffer's brief comment about what Druids were doing "1000 years ago" could create a very misleading impression in young readers' minds.
It's been a while since I've read Pfeffer's other seasonal titles, but I don't recall having the same objections to either of her equinox books (I've yet to read her Summer Solstice one). I'd still recommend The Shortest Day, because despite its flaws - which are owing more to inadequate, rather than incorrect information - it is one of only a few children's books devoted to the Winter Solstice, and includes a number of activities that look both fun and informative, but only with the caveat that educators and parents might want to do a little research, and have a more complete understanding of some of the information presented here.
January 2, 2024
Albeit there certainly is a lot of interesting and educational information (both scientific and cultural) regarding the winter solstice being shown by Wendy Pfeffer in her 2003 picture book The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice (and that I appreciate Pfeffer also providing solid basic astronomy themed facts about the winter solstice, child-friendly activities, a solstice party cupcake recipe and also one for giving non migratory birds a treat and thus their own winter themed celebration, as well as including a decent list of suggestions for further reading and indeed even presenting a book that I have majorly and lastingly enjoyed, namely John Langstaff's The Christmas Revels Songbook: Carols, Processionals, Rounds, Ritual & Childrens Songs in Celebration of the Winter Solstice), I do have to say that there is something that is textually speaking just a wee bit off and potentially even problematic for me personally regarding Pfeffer's words for The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice.
For one, although I certainly think that Wendy Pfeffer does a decent enough textual job introducing at the beginning of The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice the change from autumn to winter in the northern hemisphere, how some animals like squirrels are busy storing food for the winter (such as nuts and seeds), that other animals like woodchucks (groundhogs) go into hibernation, how foxes, deer etc. grow thicker fur, that many birds migrate south but that some species like for example chickadees do in fact remain on site throughout the winter months (and yes, that the so called shortest day of the year does not actually mean less than 24 hours, but simply that for December 21st, that for the day that is the start of winter, there is the shortest hours of daylight and the longest hours of darkness), sorry, but I with quite a bit of personal annoyance truly tend to find the narrational tone Pfeffer uses in those parts of The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice when she is describing how in the past people were seemingly hugely afraid of winter and of the days getting shorter and had solstice fires and the like to encourage the sun and to fight against winter and winter's "evil spirits" rather uncomfortably patronising, holier than thou, and also with a huge amount of 20th and 21st century moral and scientific superiority presenting itself. And you know, perhaps Pfeffer should also be pointing out in The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice that even in the distant past, people might just have wanted to party, to simply have raucous and fun celebrations of warmth and light, that many winter solstice traditions are in fact still in use and popular today and that ancient astronomers often totally knew their stuff so to speak, were using scientifically sound observational techniques and were not simply superstitious.
And for two, considering that The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice is very specifically featuring winter and the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere (and I really do not know and understand why Pfeffer is being so specifically northern hemisphere themed here either), for the information Wendy Pfeffer provides regarding the Incas of Peru, considering that this in fact deals with and occurs in the southern hemisphere, it in my opinion absolutely needs to be pointed out by Pfeffer in The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice that winter and summer are in fact reversed south of the equator, with the winter solstice happening when in the northern hemisphere the summer solstice occurs and with the summer solstice happening when in the northern hemisphere is winter solstice occurs (and that while I do understand Wendy Pfeffer not being able to describe ALL winter solstice traditions in detail in The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice she should at the very least be providing supplementary lists, as there are definitely many and also important winter solstice traditions that just sadly do not even get any kind of a mention in The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice and really should be at least alluded to).
Therefore and textually speaking, for me and in my humble opinion, what Wendy Pfeffer has written, what she has penned in The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice, while providing a basic and sufficiently educational introduction to the winter solstice is also not worth more than two stars for me (see above for specifically why not, as I do not want to and will not repeat my bones of contention). And indeed, the only reason why my rating for The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice is still three and not two stars is that I do find Jesse Reisch's accompanying artwork visually delightful and also doing a wonderfully colourful and nicely age appropriate job visually mirroring Pfeffer's printed words for The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice (and for me, this is important and also essential since for example the illustrations accompanying Wendy Pfeffer's book on the spring equinox are much too juvenile and overly cutesy for the presented text and that thankfully Jesse Reisch totally and appreciatively manages to avoid this with his gorgeously realistic, lushly hued and never every aesthetically too potentially childish pictures for The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice).
For one, although I certainly think that Wendy Pfeffer does a decent enough textual job introducing at the beginning of The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice the change from autumn to winter in the northern hemisphere, how some animals like squirrels are busy storing food for the winter (such as nuts and seeds), that other animals like woodchucks (groundhogs) go into hibernation, how foxes, deer etc. grow thicker fur, that many birds migrate south but that some species like for example chickadees do in fact remain on site throughout the winter months (and yes, that the so called shortest day of the year does not actually mean less than 24 hours, but simply that for December 21st, that for the day that is the start of winter, there is the shortest hours of daylight and the longest hours of darkness), sorry, but I with quite a bit of personal annoyance truly tend to find the narrational tone Pfeffer uses in those parts of The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice when she is describing how in the past people were seemingly hugely afraid of winter and of the days getting shorter and had solstice fires and the like to encourage the sun and to fight against winter and winter's "evil spirits" rather uncomfortably patronising, holier than thou, and also with a huge amount of 20th and 21st century moral and scientific superiority presenting itself. And you know, perhaps Pfeffer should also be pointing out in The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice that even in the distant past, people might just have wanted to party, to simply have raucous and fun celebrations of warmth and light, that many winter solstice traditions are in fact still in use and popular today and that ancient astronomers often totally knew their stuff so to speak, were using scientifically sound observational techniques and were not simply superstitious.
And for two, considering that The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice is very specifically featuring winter and the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere (and I really do not know and understand why Pfeffer is being so specifically northern hemisphere themed here either), for the information Wendy Pfeffer provides regarding the Incas of Peru, considering that this in fact deals with and occurs in the southern hemisphere, it in my opinion absolutely needs to be pointed out by Pfeffer in The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice that winter and summer are in fact reversed south of the equator, with the winter solstice happening when in the northern hemisphere the summer solstice occurs and with the summer solstice happening when in the northern hemisphere is winter solstice occurs (and that while I do understand Wendy Pfeffer not being able to describe ALL winter solstice traditions in detail in The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice she should at the very least be providing supplementary lists, as there are definitely many and also important winter solstice traditions that just sadly do not even get any kind of a mention in The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice and really should be at least alluded to).
Therefore and textually speaking, for me and in my humble opinion, what Wendy Pfeffer has written, what she has penned in The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice, while providing a basic and sufficiently educational introduction to the winter solstice is also not worth more than two stars for me (see above for specifically why not, as I do not want to and will not repeat my bones of contention). And indeed, the only reason why my rating for The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice is still three and not two stars is that I do find Jesse Reisch's accompanying artwork visually delightful and also doing a wonderfully colourful and nicely age appropriate job visually mirroring Pfeffer's printed words for The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice (and for me, this is important and also essential since for example the illustrations accompanying Wendy Pfeffer's book on the spring equinox are much too juvenile and overly cutesy for the presented text and that thankfully Jesse Reisch totally and appreciatively manages to avoid this with his gorgeously realistic, lushly hued and never every aesthetically too potentially childish pictures for The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice).
March 12, 2014
Author Wendy Pfeffer’s book, The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice, combines scientific facts about the effects of Earth’s rotation with anthropological information about how ancient and contemporary cultures have viewed and responded to the changing seasons. Specifically, focus is on the shortest day of the year: the winter solstice. This book is a terrific resource for older elementary students to learn about and celebrate the winter solstice. In fact, the end of the book offers numerous celebration ideas like winter solstice themed cupcakes, birdfeeders, shadow measurement and data collection to measure the sun’s location in the sky, and instructions to make model of the earth to illustrate its rotation around the sun. After describing the shortest day of the year, Pfeffer takes the reader back 5,000 years to describe the perspectives of early astronomers. Cultures that are addressed are those of ancient Egypt (5000 years ago), ancient China (3000 years ago), Rome (2,000 years ago), Europe and Peru (1,000 years ago), and western cultures today. In fact, rituals of the ancient cultures are all connected to common traditions in which we participate today (i.e. tree decorating, hanging evergreen garland and wreaths indoors, lighting candles, singing songs, etc). A two page spread at the end of the book gives an illustration of the Earth’s path around the sun and lays out some more scientific detail about measurement of the rotation. This book would be a great resource to have available in the winter before the holiday break—a good reason to celebrate, while avoiding talking about specific religious holidays—which all apparently draw from ancient solstice rituals anyway! The book becomes fairly dense with technical vocabulary, but the pictures are bright and lively, and I think older elementary kids (2nd – 4th grade) will find this informative and interesting.
January 4, 2010
I would read this book to my hypothetical future children! Great explanations, lovely pictures, lots of facts and activities to engage the kids in truly learning about and understanding the solstice.
March 9, 2022
Perhaps a good book for older kids interested in Winter Solstice. It starts out more applicable to the changing of seasons and then becomes a huge history lesson.
December 22, 2016
A little history and some science on the Winter Solstice.
December 22, 2012
This is an interesting book that explains the changing of the seasons and specifically about the winter solstice. The history of how people marked this special day each year is fascinating and we all learned a little more about this topic.
The narrative is a good length for elementary school-age children and while they didn't want me to read the detailed page that explains the science of the solstice and equinox cycle, they were interested in the rest of the book. Overall, I thought this was an entertaining and eductional book that is perfect to read on this special day. We enjoyed reading it together.
There are several projects and even a recipe for children to make that will help them celebrate this time of year. We didn't do any of them, but I think they'd make a great science project for school. Some of them are quite involved and would take a year to finish, but others are more simple and still help to illustrate the principles explained in the book.
The narrative is a good length for elementary school-age children and while they didn't want me to read the detailed page that explains the science of the solstice and equinox cycle, they were interested in the rest of the book. Overall, I thought this was an entertaining and eductional book that is perfect to read on this special day. We enjoyed reading it together.
There are several projects and even a recipe for children to make that will help them celebrate this time of year. We didn't do any of them, but I think they'd make a great science project for school. Some of them are quite involved and would take a year to finish, but others are more simple and still help to illustrate the principles explained in the book.
December 12, 2015
It was one of the only two children's books about the winter solstice in our library, and both of them fell short of my expectations.
The authors of both books got their audience completely messed up. I'm not even sure who the target audience was. The cover and illustrations look like they were made with toddlers in mind, I can't see anyone older than 5 be comfortable with the design. The text, on the other hand, is clearly for someone a bit older, not so much because of the difficult words (and there are lots of difficult words there), but because it's boring, unable to capture the kid's attention.
It seems that if I want a good children's book about the solstice, I will have to write it myself :(
The authors of both books got their audience completely messed up. I'm not even sure who the target audience was. The cover and illustrations look like they were made with toddlers in mind, I can't see anyone older than 5 be comfortable with the design. The text, on the other hand, is clearly for someone a bit older, not so much because of the difficult words (and there are lots of difficult words there), but because it's boring, unable to capture the kid's attention.
It seems that if I want a good children's book about the solstice, I will have to write it myself :(
December 26, 2012
A look at solstice celebrations throughout various cultures & times (with organized writing). Tries to combine those celebrations with the science around the solstice. Every now and then, there's a touch of poetry to the writing. I would have liked to see more of that in the book - magic! - but it was a bit dull instead. I did read it to my kids for the information, but it's not one I'll add to our collection for next year.
December 30, 2013
This book was better than I thought it would be! My library hold finally went through after placing it months ago. This book will be a must-have next winter solstice. The artwork was wonderful, many cultures were covered including several Pagan ones, and I was pleasantly surprised with activities in the back of the book. A recipe, birdfeeders, and several science experiments. My kids will love these!
December 6, 2017
This book has some stories about people being worried the sun wasn't coming back and about modern celebrations of solstice. It was fine but I preferred the other solstice books that we checked out.
May 2, 2015
Personal reaction- this book is a fabulous teaching tool for students to learn about the winter solstice and how the earth adapts to time changes. While reading this, you already know that this book would be an excellent choice for children to read or have read to during the time changes throughout the year. Obviously this book would work best with the winter solstice. This can help children understand why we have daylight savings time and why the different seasons have different temperatures. Read aloud- as I briefly touched on in the above sentences, this book is great to teach children about science and geography and why the earth has different changes that it does. Independent reading- I would suggest children between the ages of 9-12 reading this book. My only concern is that children on younger ages will have no concept of the winter solstice and will not understand the vocabulary within this book. However, I completely suggest reading this book as a teacher to a class of any age group. This book offers a great range of information for children about the time changing and the rotation of the earth. No matter the age, children can learn and understand the science of the earth. Non-fiction- this book contains many different types of non-fiction conventions. For instance on the last five pages the author added in a winter solstice chart that maps the sun’s movements throughout the day and months. Then following that page, the author provides a list of activities to use with a class and the charts that will help with various activities. This includes a chart of times that children can track the sun’s movement and the amount of daylight per day. I found this to be the best non-fiction children’s book I have ever found. I would love to have access to this book when I begin my teaching. Diverse perspective- this book also provides a diverse perspective because of the story plot within the book. The author uses the Egyptians as the characters within the book to help the reader understand how time change and the year was to be marked on calendars starting with the Egyptians many years ago. Children are able to learn about a new culture while also learning about the science of the world.
October 26, 2014
Genre: Non-fiction, Informational Text
This book goes through the history of celebrating the Winter Solstice. This is the shortest day in the year. There are still 24 hours in this day, but the hours of daylight are the shortest because of the way the Earth is tilted and the amount of sunlight that shines on Earth. The book describes different cultures in the past and present that celebrated this day. Some cultures thought that the sun appearing less and less was a sign from the gods that they were angry, and these cultures would have festivals to try and please the gods. Other societies, started noticing the cycle and would build special buildings to show when these days happened. It was surprising to learn that this day has been celebrated, and the different ways people celebrated it. Because so many different cultural are displayed celebrating this day in the book, it is a great reference when teaching about different celebrations around the world. I would recommend this book for children in grades 3 and up. The book is interesting, age appropriate and the children can understand what is being represented. The style and language that is use is appropriate. The illustrations are beautiful and help support the text. The book shows characters that represent a variety of cultural groups and no negative stereotypes are given of the represented groups.
This book goes through the history of celebrating the Winter Solstice. This is the shortest day in the year. There are still 24 hours in this day, but the hours of daylight are the shortest because of the way the Earth is tilted and the amount of sunlight that shines on Earth. The book describes different cultures in the past and present that celebrated this day. Some cultures thought that the sun appearing less and less was a sign from the gods that they were angry, and these cultures would have festivals to try and please the gods. Other societies, started noticing the cycle and would build special buildings to show when these days happened. It was surprising to learn that this day has been celebrated, and the different ways people celebrated it. Because so many different cultural are displayed celebrating this day in the book, it is a great reference when teaching about different celebrations around the world. I would recommend this book for children in grades 3 and up. The book is interesting, age appropriate and the children can understand what is being represented. The style and language that is use is appropriate. The illustrations are beautiful and help support the text. The book shows characters that represent a variety of cultural groups and no negative stereotypes are given of the represented groups.
November 30, 2013
The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer was refereed to as a recommended book by the Orbis Pictus Award committee in 2004. After reading this book however, my group deemed it worthy to have won the award in 2004. The book describes what the winter solstice is and how different cultures looked at why the winter solstice was occurring. The author explains to the reader that the shortest day of the year is on December 21 and even though there is still 24 hours in a day, this specific day has the fewest hours of daylight. The book discusses that when the earth tilts away from the sun, the North gets less heat and light compared to the South.
Through the illustrations, the reader is able to gain a better understanding of how other cultures viewed why the winter solstice was occurring. What was also really interesting about this book is that it included activities for the reader to participate in to learn more about the winter solstice. The activities included making your own sunrise and sunset chart or measuring shadows on the shortest day of the year. These interactive activities could be utilized in the classroom for science lessons and excite any young reader, which would ultimately promote learning.
Through the illustrations, the reader is able to gain a better understanding of how other cultures viewed why the winter solstice was occurring. What was also really interesting about this book is that it included activities for the reader to participate in to learn more about the winter solstice. The activities included making your own sunrise and sunset chart or measuring shadows on the shortest day of the year. These interactive activities could be utilized in the classroom for science lessons and excite any young reader, which would ultimately promote learning.
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November 27, 2016This is a great informational text that teaches about the winter solstice. This book is about the changes that occur during this time and informs the reader about the shortest day of the year. The book is full of facts and is a good winter book that is not about specific holidays that the children might celebrate.
My kindergartners would love this book because they love learning about seasons and weather! I think this would be a great read aloud on the actual day (if it's before we get out for break) for the kids to learn about this particular change in the day they might not notice. The pictures in this book are illustrations, which is different for most informational books but I think they're engaging and inviting for kids to look at. This is a WOW book for me because I can see my kids wanting to put this book in their book baskets for read to self after I read it aloud to them!
My kindergartners would love this book because they love learning about seasons and weather! I think this would be a great read aloud on the actual day (if it's before we get out for break) for the kids to learn about this particular change in the day they might not notice. The pictures in this book are illustrations, which is different for most informational books but I think they're engaging and inviting for kids to look at. This is a WOW book for me because I can see my kids wanting to put this book in their book baskets for read to self after I read it aloud to them!
November 13, 2014
This is a wonderful book on many levels. The illustrations are delicious, full of rich purples, golds, blues. The kind of loveliness I'd like to frame and put on my walls. The book explains the "shortest day" - the winter solstice - clearly and simply. It tells of several ancient cultures' discoveries about the solstices. The book ends with two pages of facts and six wonderful activities: Making a sunrise/sunset chart, measuring shadows, using a compass, creating a sun and earth demo and having a winter solstice party - for kids AND for the birds! There's a short list of resources at the very end. I bet there are some cool books written in the ten years since this list that could be added to it (research time!)
August 4, 2021
The pictures are very beautiful, but apart from that this isn’t the best.
The author simplifies the science of the solstice and fails to explain that the angle of incidence is what causes warm and cold weather and length of days, thereby perpetuating the myth that the distance of the poles from the sun causes seasons. The distance is not the cause, but the angle of the sun’s rays from various points on the earth.
She also conflates our celebration of Christ’s birth with the celebration of the solstice. No… just no.
I know it’s a children’s book, but that doesn’t justify lying in an effort to simplify key concepts.
The author simplifies the science of the solstice and fails to explain that the angle of incidence is what causes warm and cold weather and length of days, thereby perpetuating the myth that the distance of the poles from the sun causes seasons. The distance is not the cause, but the angle of the sun’s rays from various points on the earth.
She also conflates our celebration of Christ’s birth with the celebration of the solstice. No… just no.
I know it’s a children’s book, but that doesn’t justify lying in an effort to simplify key concepts.
January 14, 2017
Informative nonfiction book for elementary-aged children about the Winter Solstice. Good for independent readers - maybe 7-9 - who have an interest in science to enjoy on their own or in partners, or for dependent readers to enjoy with an adult. I'm very concerned that, despite the 2003 publishing date, there were no diverse characters; every person depicted was white. Will not purchase for my MS picture book collection; it does not seem to be a good read aloud nor adaptable for small group activities.
January 21, 2024
A practical look at the solstice with basic descriptions of why the days grow short. It also walks the reader through different celebrations through the centuries. Because I identify as ‘Christian’ and celebrate Christmas, I immediately saw the relationship to many of the ways that holiday is celebrated. Funny that the one illustration obviously depicts a Christmas scene, but the word Christmas is studiously avoided.
It felt more informative and had appendices with suggested solstice activities.
The illustrations are serviceable.
I enjoyed The Shortest Day by Cooper more.
It felt more informative and had appendices with suggested solstice activities.
The illustrations are serviceable.
I enjoyed The Shortest Day by Cooper more.
December 27, 2011
LOVED reading this ON December 22nd and learning all about the winter solstice. Really fun to see that many Christmas traditions like evergreen wreathes began as symbols in the winter solstice celebrations. There are ideas for solstice activities in the back of the book--like measuring your shadow at noon, because it is the longest it will be all year. Really valuable book in my opinion--we'll certainly be revisiting it.
January 4, 2015
We enjoyed learning about the scientific process behind the winter solstice. It was interesting to learn that many different peoples throughout world history were so intrigued by this natural Earth event that barely goes noticed nowadays.
We did not do any of the experiments and were not interested in parties to celebrate the winter solstice.
We did not do any of the experiments and were not interested in parties to celebrate the winter solstice.
January 9, 2020
This book does a great job with detailing the meaning of the winter solstice and how civilizations in history understood or celebrated this day. The last pages are kids activities for the winter solstice.
December 17, 2018
I wanted to get a basic explanation of the winter solstice and this book was an adequate representation of what it is and how it was been celebrated throughout history.
December 18, 2018
Have been reading this every December with my son. This year in 4th grade, he is learning these things in school and understood all of it! <3
December 9, 2019
One of my favorite books on explaining winter solistice.
January 16, 2020
I was really hoping to love this one, but I found the prose sterile, the illustrations dated, and the book design left something to be desired.
October 18, 2021
A cultural history of the winter solstice followed by the scientific explanation for the shortest day. Young scientists will delight in suggested experiments for hands-on learning at its finest.
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