Once Upon a Winter Day

by Liza Woodruff

A boy learns that nature is full of stories to tell when he finds and follows a mouse's tracks in a wintery wood.

Milo wants a story, but his mom is too busy to entertain him. Instead, she encourages him to go out and play in the snow. At first, Milo is disappointed - he doesn't want to play outside, he wants a story.

But when he starts to follow a trail of mouse-prints, he discovers signs of activity all around, prompting him to ask, "What happened here?" Before long, he's using his imagination -- depicted in lush wordless spreads that capture the vividness of Milo's fantasies -- to fill in the gaps. By the time Milo comes home, he's the one with stories to tell.

A must have for the winter season, Liza Woodruff's Once Upon a Winter Day is a fun read-aloud that shares details about animal behavior from a child's perspective.

A Bank Street Best Childrens Book of the Year!

Genres: Picture Books, Nature, Childrens, Animals, Storytime, Fiction, Realistic Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

Published November 24, 2020

About the author

I grew up in Bristol, Rhode Island. As the youngest of three in my family, I was content watching, listening, daydreaming, and drawing. My love of art took a long and meandering path on the way to children's publishing. I scooped ice cream, worked as a camp counselor, waited tables at a dude ranch, and operated a chairlift at a ski resort. At one point I even hoped to become a veterinarian! But none of these things gave me the satisfaction I longed for.

Already having earned a BA in art and French, I finished a second degree in illustration at the Art Institute of Boston (now Lesley University College of Art and Design). During that time, I began an internship at children's book review magazine The Horn Book which focused my broad interest in art onto the wonderful illustration of children's books. Upon graduation, I dove into publishing. To date, I have illustrated twenty-four books for children!
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It had long been a dream of mine to write my own stories. After many years as an illustrator, I tried my hand at writing. I have now authored three picture books: EMERSON BARKS/Christy Ottaviano Books/Holt 2016, A QUIETER STORY/Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House in 2019, and ONCE UPON A WINTER DAY/Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House in 2020 which was selected as one of Bank Street College of Education's Best Books of 2020. 2024 will see the publication of my fourth picture book, PHIL'S BIG DAY/Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House.

My home is in Vermont, nestled between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain. Nature is a big part of my life and when not working in my studio, I can be found on the lake, on the side of a mountain, or deep in the woods with my family and/or two dogs.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful! Milo wants a story but his mother is too busy, so she suggests he go play in the snow. Reluctantly, Milo goes out. But, soon, he finds that tracks in the snow have their own story to tell. He imagines what each animal was doing as it made the tracks. We get a nice little adventure and a wee nature lesson in the process. The illustrations are gentle and effective. Sensitive children might be concerned at the large spread showing a hawk descending on a mouse, but there is a happy ending for the mouse. And, I love the end of Milo's adventure, too: "Do you want me to read you some stories after dinner?" his mom asks when he returns. But Milo shakes his head, "This time, I have stories for you." :-) My children really enjoyed this one, too.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Milo wanted a story, but his Mom was busy. So, he headed outside to play in the snow instead. And guess what he found? Stories all around! Little stories with animals, trees, water, and so much more. Come follow the little footprints in the snow and the huge imagination! Come see where the day and story take Milo. And you!

Milo won my heart with his very first stomp in the snow. He’s a cutie! I loved his fascination and creativity. And I loved how readers flipped the pages to find an answer to Milo’s questions and curiosity. My favorite was the feather! The page filled with movement and wonder. Milo’s imagination really came to life in nature. It made for a lovely read that inspired me to go for a winter walk too.

This sweet story was a joy to read. Highly recommended. Track it down!

[La Coccinelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice little story about a boy who's looking for stories.

When Milo asks his mom for a story, she tells him to go outside and play instead. He doesn't want to, but he does anyway... and soon spots a tiny track in the snow. As he follows the mouse's footprints, he finds different objects and wonders about their origins. All the while, he's actually building a story, and when it comes time for him to return home, he has a story to tell his mother.

The illustrations are simple but effective, helping to tell the story as Milo moves through the snowy landscape. The reader learns a bit about animal behaviour along the way (who knew porcupines could climb trees?) and there's even a heart-stopping moment when it looks like the mouse may have met his doom.

While this didn't excite me personally, I think it could be a great fit for readers who are interested in animals and what they do in winter.

[Abby Johnson]

All Milo wants is a story, but his mom is working and too busy to read to him right this second, so Milo sets off into his snowy yard. Soon he sees mouse tracks in the snow and begins to imagine what that mouse was doing. As he follows the tracks, he sees more tracks and clues and starts to make up his own stories about the animals in the snowy woods. This is a gentle, quiet winter story that would be a great precursor to a winter hike and challenging kids to make up stories about the things you see.

[Alex Baugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It' s a snowy day and Milo wants a story, but mom is busy working. Instead, she suggests he go out and play in the snow. Grudgingly, Milo bundles up and leave the house. And the first thing he notices in the snow are little footprints around the bird feeder. A mouse was here, he thinks to himself. Milo decides to follow the tracks which lead to a winterberry bush with all it's berries gone and only a feather left behind. What happened, he wonders. Continuing to follow the mouse tracks into the woods, Milo discovers all kinds the other things to wonder about - branches from the hemlock tree that have fallen to the ground, dirt scattered in the snow, smooth ruts in the snow leading down to the creek, something that brushed the snow causing the mouse tracks to stop. As he continues following where the mouse tracks pick up again, Milo hears his mom calling him home for dinner. Darn, time to go home already. When mom offers to read him a story after dinner, Milo shakes his head no, as he pulls lays out all the souvenirs of his day in the snow: "This time," he said. "I have stories for you." This is such a lovely story about a young boy's explorations and observations of the natural world around him by simply following mouse tracks. Each page presents its own mystery about what happened at each of Milo's stops. Turn the page and discover the answer to the mystery before going on to the next one. Woodruff's mixed media illustrations done in a wintery palette offer a detailed colorful picture surrounding Milo's finds against simple mostly white background. Woodruff ends Milo's tale with labeled spot illustrations of all the creatures who are part of the story he will tell his mother. I've read this story over and over to my young readers and they never tire of it, though at this point they can readily name the creature associated with each of Milo's stops.

Copy provided by Edelweiss+

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun Winter Nature book. I was disappointed though, it used the word “darn” when the boy was called in for dinner. That’s why I only gave 3 stars.

[Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

There can’t possibly be anything interesting happening in the woods in the middle of winter, right?

I adored how this story handled Milo’s disinterest in going outside in the first scene. Not everyone immediately enjoys spending time in nature, especially on a cold and snowy day when it didn’t seem like there was much to do out there at all. Seeing him slowly come up with ways to amuse himself out there was delightful and felt realistic to me. There are countless ways to pass time on a snowy day, and his solution to his problem fit his personality and interests beautifully.

The subplots were just as exciting as the main one. They involved the various animals who had passed through the area shortly before Milo was sent outdoors, and it was a great deal of fun to follow all of them to their natural conclusions. While I can’t go into detail about most of them without giving away spoilers, I will say that the mysterious quest the mice were on appealed to me the most. It was nicely communicated to the audience and the ending for it made me smile.

One of my favorite portions of this tale was related to how much freedom Milo had to explore the land near his family’s home. It seemed to be an incredibly safe place for a child to wander around in, so he had plenty of opportunities to investigate anything outside that caught his attention. This isn’t something I see happen very often in modern books written for this age group, but I thought it was nicely shown here. There is definitely something to be said for giving kids the space to figure things out on their own when they’re bored or don’t know what to do next.

Once Upon a Winter Day was a perfect winter picture book.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Featured in a grandma reads session.

Encouraged to go out and play, our little man Milo stomps his way out of the house muttering that all he wanted was to be read a story. . .and that's where the adventure begins. His own story amongst all the flora and fauna of his own land. He uses his imagination and his own knowledge and builds his way around and then back home, ready to tell Mama a story.

A dear, thoughtful loop that made 100% sense to my listeners. The artwork is peaceful and in harmony with the movement of the tale.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely winter's tale about a young boy sent out to play outside in the snow. He follows a mouse's tracks through the woods and attempts to decipher the events in the mouse's adventure by reading the tracks in the snow. This picture book will be especially appreciated by young readers who have seen animal tracks or a useful introduction to a nature walk.

[DaNae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great sense of place in this one.

[Dylan Teut · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I taught first grade, we always took an "animals in winter" field trip to the local conservation district and after learning about animal "signs," we went out deep into the cold woods to see what we could find. This book would have been absolutely perfect to help children think about what may have taken place out in the woods where we saw evidence of where animals had been busy.

[Peacegal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! This wintry gem is a delightful and thoughtful story you'll want to share. A little boy explores his wooded backyard right after a snow and discovers multiple animal tracks and ponders the story they tell. A little mouse foraging for food ties the tale all together.

I always love seeing nature books that encourage readers to observe and learn about wild creatures without destroying them, and this is another example of a wonderful picture book that gently communicates this idea to the widest possible audience.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute, nature-y story about a boy who follows mouse tracks through the woods and imagines what has happened in places where he notices other animal traces. Great if you're a lover of natural spaces!

[Shaye Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the cover art to this book didn’t initially grab me, I thought the story was quite inventive. A young boy named Milo asks his mom to read him a story. However, she’s busy with another project — very realistic and she’s not unkind, so let's not be judgy here. 😄 Milo grudgingly heads outside and is quickly distracted by clues found in the snow everywhere. Each time he find a new track, feather, hole, or some other unusual clue in the snow, he wonders what happened there. After each new discovery, there’s a wordless page spread showing the reader what occurred in that spot before Milo arrived. Once Milo has already happened upon a number of mysteries, he hears his mom calling him back and he heads home (NOTE: He says, “Darn!” as he’s heading back home, which I realize some families may not appreciate). As they sit at the table to eat a yummy soup, his mom asks him if he’d like her read him some stories after dinner. But he says that he now has stories to tell HER. The cozy artwork for this book was created with mixed media: watercolor, pan and ink, colored pencil, and Photoshop. For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar to Who's Been Here: In the Snow. Great book for grades K-1 units on winter, animal tracks and how animals live within an ecosystem of the northeastern US. Kids reading 1-1 or as an ebook will love looking on the pages for the deer mouse with the berry in its mouth and hold their breath in anticipation as the boy tracks it to a hawkwing's imprint in the snow. Oh, and love that the bird is a cedar waxwing. The white on grey mouse tracks that Milo is tracking may be hard to see if you are the kid in the back row in a class of 26 kids on the rug. The full page spreads revealing the animals are large and colorful. The ebook is $56.00 for libraries. Sigh.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming story about a boy who is encouraged to go outside and explore. Milo starts the story with a stack of books but Mom is busy and can't read just then. He bundles up and goes out in the snow to explore. The remainder of the book lets readers follow him as he follows a small set of tracks from the bird feeder through the woods and back home again. Easy to engage readers as they look at the clues in the illustrations and figure out what animals are involved in what Milo sees.
Text is straight forward. Great read together book.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great picture book showing a child reading animal tracks in the snow to discover what might have happened there. Fantastic book to start talking about tracking animals, or teaching kids to read their environment or be more observant. Short enough to be read in storytime, and could be used to prompt kids to ask them what they think happened. Could be read in school as well during a unit on animal tracking.

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great winter story to help kids see what wildlife is up to during the colder months. A little boy follows tracks through the snow to see what each animal is doing. He finds evidence in each area of a different creature. The following pages will show what happened before Milo showed up. The illustrations are soft and muted which matches the season. It would make a great read-aloud and younger children will enjoy looking for each animal. Highly recommended for Grades K-2.

[SBC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this lovely picture book written and illustrated by Liza Woodruff. There were bright (pencil and watercolour?) illustrations of American woodland animals in a snowy landscape. The story was also lovely - Milo is a bit grumpy that his mum is too busy to read him a story and told him to go outside to play, but he soon finds that outside is full of stories (of a mouse, some birds picking berries, porcupines, deer, and otters...).

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I loved this book. Beautiful illustrations and story. But what I really loved was that little readers can make up their own stories along the way. Multiple pages throughout the book was left blank as the creatures in the story went about their business and Milo (the main character) was wondering what they are up to.
So cute and I know my patrons will love it!

[Gps · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming, endearing short story about appreciating the small signs of winter, with evidence of the animals who lives around us, and whom we do not notice.

a good read aloud book. that reminds us to pay attention to the "small" things and minor experiences in our lives, much as the protagonist, Milo, does.

[Rebecca Gomez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about a boy who wants a story, but instead of his mother reading to him, she sends him outside to play in the snow, where he discovers a story from nature. Lovely and simple. Captures that sense of childhood wonder. I like that, in this book, children can see a child exploring on his own, which could help foster a sense of adventurous independence in young ones who read this story.

[Ellen L. Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Milo, whose mother is too busy to read him a story, embarks on an outside adventure. As he follows the tiny footprints of a mouse, he finds evidence of creatures that live in the forest--birds, squirrels, otters, porcupines, and red-tailed hawk. That night, when it’s storytime, Milo has a story to tell! A beautiful book about the fun of being outdoors.

[Kelly]

I love the way this book is done, creating questions for kids to ask along the way. What happened here, where is x animal, things like that. The boy just wanted a story read to him, but now he's got a story to share after his adventure in the snowy woods.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once Upon a Winter Day is the perfect book to kick off winter writing! How lovely it would be to take a snowy walk in the woods and then write together afterwards with the animals & winter scenery as inspiration... adorable. :-)

[Lisa Nagel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that this is a story about a winter walk and the clues the boys finds in the snow, make another story the boy can tell his mom upon returning home. Wonderful to encourage the joy of outdoor exploration.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An appealing, sweet story of a little boy who goes outside on a snowy winter day and finds his own fun. Using clues in nature and animal tracks, he follows the adventures of the wintertime animals. A beautiful book to celebrate the season and encourage kids to get outside.

[Rosemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet story with a lovely message. Beautiful illustrations that I think kids will like of woodland creatures. They are labeled at the front and back of the book so you know what kind of animals you are looking at.

[Lisa D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Perfect winter book!

[Melissa the Librarian]

I enjoyed this one. It has a search-and-find feel, while encouraging children to be curious and tell stories.