Houston Family Book List - December 2009

Toddlers (Ages 1-3)

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
All winter long, Bear sleeps in his cozy lair. Surprise guests stop by to warm up, brew tea, and make popcorn, all while Bear snores on.

Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London
Froggy would rather go play in the snow than take his winter nap, but he finally gets so tired from putting on all the extra clothing his mother gives him that he falls asleep.

Little Bit of Winter by Paul Stewart
Hedgehog, who hibernates through the winter, wants to know what winter feels like, so he asks his good friend Rabbit to save him a little bit of winter to share in the spring.

Picture Books (Pre K-K)

Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri
As Squirrel dashes around the farm and meadow, his animal friends invite him to join their fun and games. Poor Squirrel is too busy – he needs to get ready for winter! 

It’s Winter! by Linda Glaser
A child observes the coming of winter and its effects on the weather, animals, and plants. Includes suggestions for wintertime activities.

Duck at the Door by Jackie Urbanovic
Max decides not to migrate south for the winter with the rest of his flock and soon takes refuge at Irene’s house, where he becomes a bit of a pest.

Early Readers (Grades 1-3)

It’s Snowing! It’s Snowing!: Winter Poems by Jack Prelutsky
Kid-friendly winter poems accompanied by warm and expressive paintings. Young readers will enjoy this collection on their own, but the bouncing rhymes make it perfect for reading aloud.

Emma’s Magic Winter by Jean Little
With the help of her new friend, who has magic boots just like her own, Emma overcomes her shyness and no longer hates reading out loud in school.

Gus and Gertie and the Lucky Charms by Joan Lowery Nixon
Globe-trotting penguins Gus and Gertie arrive to compete in the Animal Winter Olympics, only to find they must solve the mystery of the stolen lucky charms.

Children's Fiction (Grades 4-6)

A Redwall Winter’s Tale by Brian Jacques
Redwall fans can follow fun loving Bungo the molebabe and his friend Tubspike the hedgehog maid as they welcome a traveling troupe to Redwall Abbey to celebrate the arrival of Snowbadger, the Lord of Wintertide.

The Leanin’ Dog by K.A. Nuzum
Dessa Dean lives in a remote wilderness area with her father, a trapper and hunter. She has been in despair following the death of her mother, until a starving, injured dog arrives at their door and becomes her friend.

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
After an October blizzard, Laura’s family moves from the claim shanty to the town for the winter, which has been predicted to be seven months of bad weather.

Teen Fiction (Ages 12 & Up)

Far North by Will Hobbs
After the destruction of their floatplane, sixteen-year-old Gabe and his friend, Raymond, struggle to survive a winter in the wilderness of the Northwest Territories.

Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen
Three young men are trusted with the Imaginarium Geographica, an atlas of fantastical places to which they travel in hopes of defeating the Winter King, whose bid for power is related to the First World War raging in the Real World.

Blackthorn Winter by Kathryn Reiss
Juliana Martin-Drake has been dragged by her mother from sunny California to a cold and colorless seaside town in England. She’s miserable and the last thing she needs is to be involved in a murder mystery, but she can’t resist investigating the murder of a nosy neighbor artist.