December 2010: Winter-Themed Books (Master List and General Discussion)

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

We will be celebrating WINTER in December! :-) As per the discussion in the POLL comments, the nominations were open books focusing not only on the season itself (such as snow, hibernating creatures, etc.) and books set during that season, but also to the holidays that define winter for many of us: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice. Some people were excited about including holiday books and some preferred just the season so now's your chance to VOTE for what you want to read most :-)

For a quick-glance list of the titles up for votes, click on "MORE" under "Books Mentioned in This Topic" over to the right of this post and that will open a new window listing all the books that were nominated. Or, you can skim over the comments here if you want to see what some people said about the books they nominated.

Either way, please post a COMMENT with the five books you most want to read in December. Votes will be accepted until November 19th. Thank you!

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Oooh, some great suggestions already, Abigail! ;-)

Here are a few on WINTER from me, too:


Happy Winter by Karen Gunderscheimer

Lucia and the Light by Phillis Root (with illustrations by Harry Potter's Mary GrandPre)


Snowflake Bentley by Jaqueline Briggs Martin -- this is a picture book biography and SO lovely!

[Wilhelmina]

Just for clarity, do we include books that are set in winter, like Owl Moon by Jane Yolen? (If so, please include it in the nominations!)

I will add more later, but I want to nominate Snow Bears by Martin Waddell before I forget!

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Wilhelmina wrote: "Just for clarity, do we include books that are set in winter, like Owl Moon by Jane Yolen?"

YES! Absolutely! Thank you for asking and I apologize for not making that more clear. I will try to do so in the opening thread! I would love to read OWL MOON ;-)

[Wilhelmina]

My grandson and I must have read Owl Moon at least 100 times, and we never tired of it.

[Courtney]

I also always read The Night Before Christmas. What is your favorite version of this poem? We have at least 10 different picture books just at my collection at my branch library. I can't imagine how many there are out there.

[Lisa]

Winter Story by Jill Barklem

The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder by Mark Cassino

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Meschenmoser

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Funny how I live in a place where we get no snow in the winter, except once every few decades, and I'm into books about snow.

ETA: I've read all of these except for Waiting for Winter, and that's on my to-read shelf. The 4 I've read are all excellent, in my opinion.

[Emily]

Winter is not my favorite season to experience, but it might be my favorite to read about. I like what's been suggested, but there's also:

Stella, queen of the snow

[Manybooks]

HOLIDAY BOOKS:

The Trees of the Dancing Goats

Runaway Dreidel!

Four Sides, Eight Nights: A New Spin on Hanukkah

A Pioneer Christmas: Celebrating in the Backwoods in 1841

The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas: An Austin Family Story

The Gift from Saint Nicholas

Baseball Bats for Christmas

K Is for Kwanzaa: A Kwanzaa Alphabet Book

WINTER BOOKS:

The Winter Solstice

Snow Party

Snow

Snow Tree

Winter Is the Warmest Season

Winter Lullaby

The First Snow

Brave Irene

Fireflies: A Winter's Tale

EDIT

Christmas City: A Look-Again Book

Snow

One Hundred Shining Candles

Papa's Latkes

The Winter Witch

[Wilhelmina]

Chandra wrote: "Oh and another potentially fun winter read is The Snow Queen. I recommend the version illustrated by Vladyslav Yerko. It's lovely! But it's very long for a picture book!"

Wow! I love "The Snow Queen" but I haven't seen this version. It looks spectacular!

[Lisa]

Oh, How could I have forgotten a Patricia Polacco book?! ;-)

I second The Trees of the Dancing Goats! covers both Hanukkah and Christmas too.

[Manybooks]

Lisa wrote: "Oh, How could I have forgotten a Patricia Polacco book?! ;-)

I second The Trees of the Dancing Goats! covers both Hanukkah and Christmas too."

Iam actually getting the book from the library tomorrow, along with The Junkyard Wonders, which has finally become available, yay.

[Lisa]

Gundula, You're in for a double treat!!

[Manybooks]

Lisa wrote: "Gundula, You're in for a double treat!!"

I'm looking forward to it.

[Wilhelmina]

It looks like there are several Polacco Christmas/Hanukkah books, Lisa. Is "Dancing Goats" the best one?

[Lisa]

Wilhelmina wrote: "It looks like there are several Polacco Christmas/Hanukkah books, Lisa. Is "Dancing Goats" the best one?"

Yes, The Trees of the Dancing Goats (Hanukkah & Christmas) and I also LOVED An Orange for Frankie (a really heartwarming Christmas story) too. Maybe equally. I gave them both 5 stars.

[Brenda]

Here is my list and they are all at my library Yeah!!

Bear Stays Up for Christmas I love reading this one each Christmas
Lucia and the Light
Waiting for Winter
A Little Bit of Winter
The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Lisa wrote: "Oh, How could I have forgotten a Patricia Polacco book?! ;-)

I second The Trees of the Dancing Goats! covers both Hanukkah and Christmas too."

It's one of my favorites!

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Oh, great suggestions, all! I am getting so excited!!! :-D

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Courtney wrote: "I also always read The Night Before Christmas. What is your favorite version of this poem? We have at least 10 different picture books just at my collection at my branch library. I can't imagine how many there are out there."

Oh, gosh. So hard to say! I have several, too. Some of my favorites are illustrated by
Cheryl Harness
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Before-Ch...

Becky Kelly
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Before-Ch...

and Gyo Fujikawa
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Before-Ch...

I also have a lovely, old-fashioned illustrated one that's neat though I like some of the illustrations better than others.
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Before-Ch...

[Lisa]

A plethora of riches!!! How on earth will we decide?! Good luck, Kathryn! ;-) I know every month takes some work, but this month seems as though it's going to be particularly challenging.

[Dolly]

I recommend Willy and May: A Christmas Story by Judy Schachner

and for newer books, we just read Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney; definitely a fun holiday read.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Lisa wrote: "A plethora of riches!!! How on earth will we decide?! Good luck, Kathryn! ;-) I know every month takes some work, but this month seems as though it's going to be particularly challenging."

Thanks! :-) I am excited for all the enthusiasm in the nominations and it is, after all, the group members who have the tough decision of voting.

[Lisa]

Kathryn wrote: "Lisa wrote: "and it is, after all, the group members who have the tough decision of voting. ."

It will be tough. BUT, you'll have to do all the counting, and there are so many books this time that there might be many ties. We shall see.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Here are a few Christmas books I've enjoyed:

Olivia Helps with Christmas

The Story of Holly and Ivy -- a classic!

Great Joy

The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll

(the last two are nice family stories by strong authors with historical setting; "Great Joy" by Kate DiCamillo with a 1930s "Miracle on 34th Street" feeling and gorgeous illustrations and "All I'll Ever Want..." by Patricia McKissack featuring a Southern African-American family during the Great Depression.)

Also, Henry And Mudge In The Sparkle Days is a lovely installment in this easy reader series by Cynthia Rylant and covers both snowy days and Christmas.

[Lisa]

Kathryn, I LOVED The Story of Holly and Ivy.

[Wilhelmina]

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner is a lot of fun.

Winter Lights: A Season in Poems & Quilts by Anna Grossnickle Hines covers a number of winter holidays in poetry.

[ABC]

"The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats.
"The Snowman" by Raymond Briggs.
"The Mitten" by Jan Brett.
"Snow" by Uri Shulevitz.
"Snowflake Bentley" by ???? (I find this book kind of depressing, but it is high quality.)

Editted: IMO, I don't think we should have any Christmas/Hannukah books. I think "winter" is a different theme from those holidays. Just my opinion. :-)

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Kirei wrote: "Editted: IMO, I don't think we should have any Christmas/Hannukah books. I think "winter" is a different theme from those holidays. Just my opinion. :-)

Thanks for sharing, Kirei. I know there was some interest expressed about doing holidays, and some for just staying with "winter" as a season, over on our discussion regarding the poll. So, I wanted to open it up to nominations for all of the above and then you can all vote for what you most want to read ;-) In any case, I will make sure that we at least have a couple of books just about WINTER in there since that is, after all, the overarching theme. That way, I hope everyone will find at least one or two of our books that they will enjoy.

[ABC]

If we include holidays, then I vote for "Tree of Cranes" by Allen Say.
"Christmas in Noisy Village" by Astrid Lindgren.

[Manybooks]

A Prairie Boy's Winter by Canadian artist William Kurelek not only shows what winter was like on a prairie farm, the illustrations (actually, more like full colour paintings) are really gorgeous. I also have fond memories of this book, as it was one of the first books I read in English after we immigrated to Canada.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Just a reminder to get those nominations in by the 11th; though we already have a fine list going :-)

[Kathryn]

These all just cry for a warm fire and a cup of hot chocolate. I am so anxious to see the complete list...

[Manybooks]

And, how can we forget this classic book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Kirei wrote: """The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats.
"The Snowman" by Raymond Briggs.
"The Mitten" by Jan Brett.
"Snow" by Uri Shulevitz.
"Snowflake Bentley" by ???? (I find this book kind of depressing, but it is high quality.) "

The Snowy Day
The Snowman
The Mitten
Snow
Snowflake Bentley

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Okay, everyone, it's time to VOTE!!!
For a quick-glance list, click on "MORE" under "Books Mentioned in This Topic" over to the right of my opening post and that will open a new window listing all the books that were nominated. Or, you can skim over the comments here if you want to see what some people said about the books they nominated.

Either way, please post a COMMENT with the five books you most want to read in December. Votes will be accepted until November 19th. Thank you!

[Lisa]

1. The Trees of the Dancing Goats by Patricia Polacco

I don't really like holiday stories all that much but this one is excellent, and how can I let a poll go by without voting for a Patricia Polacco book?! (I also liked her Christmas story An Orange for Frankie and I do recommend it but won't vote for it in this poll.) The Trees of the Dancing Goats is about both Hanukkah and Christmas.

2. Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

This is an excellent biography and it's about snow and science. Very wintery.

3. The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder by Mark Cassino

This is another excellent non-fiction book, about snow, also very wintery.

4. Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Meschenmoser

This is one on my to-read shelf. It looks adorable.

and oh so hard to choose!!!

5. Winter Story by Jill Barklem

This is one of 4 books by her about the seasons. Fiction. Very cute. Would recommend reading them all though.

Oh, the K Is for Kwanzaa: A Kwanzaa Alphabet Book and the one about winter solstice look so enticing to me too. Ack! So hard to choose. But I do want to stick to our 5 + 1 = 6 books per month. It's so true that there are too many books and too little time.

[Manybooks]

Too many books to choose, but here goes my list:


The Trees of the Dancing Goats (I just read this, wonderful, simply wonderful)

The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate (thank you Abigail, for recommending this story, a great story about how to fight hatred with love and acceptance)

The Gift from Saint Nicholas (this looks cute, and I have a weakness for Swiss picture books)

Winter Is the Warmest Season (love the idea of listing all of the cozy things one can do in the winter)

Owl Moon (this looks wonderful, I love the idea of going into the woods on a cold and snowy night to watch owls, it also shows that one can enjoy the outdoors without harming animals)

That's my five choices, and I could have added ten more. As a sixth possible choice, I think that Snow Party looks really cute, I love the idea of snow people having a party, there is supposedly a scene where the snowman carves a block of ice, how funny and cute is that.

[Dolly]

my votes:
Willy and May
The Trees of the Dancing Goats
Brave Irene
Waiting for Winter
The Mitten

[Lisa]

Gundula wrote: "The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate (thank you Abigail, for recommending this story, a great story about how to fight hatred with love and acceptance)"

Oh, yes, I really liked this one too. I don't think I noticed it on the list, or I did and there were just too many too choose from!

[Wilhelmina]

Here are my votes:

Owl Moon

The Snowy Day

Snow Bears

The Trees of the Dancing Goats

The Mitten

[ABC]

Thanks, Kathryn!!!!!!!!!!! That was sweet of you!!!!!! I guess I need to figure out how to do that on my own!

[Lisa]

Kirei wrote: "Thanks, Kathryn!!!!!!!!!!! That was sweet of you!!!!!! I guess I need to figure out how to do that on my own!"

Kirei,

So, click to post and above the text box do you see where is says "add book/author"? If you click on that you can key in title and/or author in the book field and a list will appear with an ADD button (and you can even select another edition by clicking on edition below). If you click on the ADD BUTTON, it will put the link to the book at the end of your post. So, it's best to add books as you go along.

Alternatively, you can go to any book's page and click on the share link and then copy and paste that URL into a message post, AND it will look exactly the same as the first way.

I hope that helps.

It's a very easy process once you get used to doing it.

[Crystal]

I don't know how I am going to narrow them down. I love, love this time of year! Did I mention I love this time of year? I didn't get my voting done in time. Probably best, I don't know if I could have stopped listing. As it is I don't know how I will narrow down the current wonderful list! I will be back to add some of these titles to my to-read! Thanks everyone!
My votes:
The Trees of the Dancing Goats It would be fun to read and discuss another Patricia Pollaco book.
Winter Is the Warmest Season
The Mitten
Owl Moon
The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder

[ABC]

The Mitten

I did it!!! Thanks!!!!

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Kirei wrote: "Thanks, Kathryn!!!!!!!!!!! That was sweet of you!!!!!! I guess I need to figure out how to do that on my own!"

No worries. I just did that so it would list your books along with the others in "Books mentioned in this topic." You had some good nominations and I didn't want them overlooked.

Thanks, Lisa, for explaining how to add the links ;-) It looks like Kirei is now all set for adding the links, woo hoo!

[Lisa]

Kirei wrote: "The Mitten

I did it!!! Thanks!!!!"

Yay Kirei! I'm glad it worked.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Well, the votes are in! Before I announce the winners, I want to mention that I will keep this thread open for any general discussion of the books that didn't win for our official club reads. I'm so impressed by the large number of books we've listed and, wow, you had a tough task in narrowing down the votes to just five books!

Also, just wanted to remind everyone that we have threads in the Seasonal/Holiday Reads folder for

Christmas:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

and Hanukkah:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...

These are not *just* picture books, but most of those listed are, so some of you may enjoy browsing/commenting there, too.

Now, for the winners....

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Here are the books we'll be reading for December:

The Trees of the Dancing Goats

Owl Moon

Waiting for Winter

The Mitten

Winter Is the Warmest Season

And a sixth/alternate title (which also happens to be non-fiction):
The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder

Thanks to all who voted. As it turns out, the votes were mostly for winter-themed books, so for those seeking more holiday titles, please see the threads mentioned in my comment above (#57)

I hope everyone has a chance to get these books (or order them, or place holds/ILL) before the Thanksgiving library closures (here in the US, that is) and that we'll all be able to read the majority of these titles together come December ;-)

[Lisa]

Thanks, Kathryn, Off to to which I can get. I've read 3 of the 6, so I'm looking for 3 and possibly some rereads.