Book Review: Winter Is Coming

Author: Tony Johnson Illustrator: Jim LaMarche Paula Wiseman Books August 2014

“My mother says wild things are full of light. I believe that”

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Synopsis (From Publisher):

Witness the changing of a season through a watchful child’s eyes in this story of nature and discovery from award-winning author Tony Johnston and New York Times Best Illustrated artist Jim La Marche.

Day after day, a girl goes to her favorite place in the woods and quietly watches from her tree house as the chipmunks, the doe, the rabbits prepare for the winter. As the temperature drops, sunset comes earlier and a new season begins. Silently she observes the world around her as it reveals its secrets. It takes time and patience to see the changes as, slowly but surely, winter comes.

CWR Review:

This beautiful poem is a young girl’s observation of animal life in the forest …from her treehouse. From October to December, she patiently watches the animals scavenge as winter vastly approaches. She sits observantly in her treehouse witch a sketchbook and binoculars, day after day, and watch as deer, bear, turkey, geese, woodpeckers, a lynx, skunks and a fox all come near to gather food before winter arrives. Her observations are mingled with what she sees and what her parents have taught her about wildlife with most of the paragraphs poetically ending with “winter is coming”.

The text is beautiful, with rich vocabulary and poignant descriptions. Pithy bits of animal wisdom from her parents are sprinkled throughout as well. The text is matched with beautiful illustrations that perfectly capture the slow and steady change of northern fall to wintertime period, illustration that are rendered in acrylics, colored pencils and opaque inks.

Every book has a lesson to teach, and I especially love the books that teach about stillness and quiet observation. This is one of those books. There is no dialogue, just simply a girl’s observations of the change of the seasons told in poetic form. I want my children to see other children observing and creating and so I appreciate the sketchbook and binoculars in this beautiful book. Lastly, the illustrations are beautiful. The front cover caught my eye, and the illustrations demand a lingering stare from its readers. This is the perfect book for a crisp fall day, or if you are a native Texan like me, an opportunity to imagine what a real one must be like : )

Lovely, phenomenal, exquisite, get yours here or here.

Themes- delighting in the change of seasons, fall, forest life and animals