Winter

Normally I don’t pay much attention to images and art in books, but I did notice it in Winter. Page 3 would have made a better cover. Page 5 doesn’t look like frost, it looks like frozen water or rain. The bear was adorable! As far as the words go, it was a good beginning reader with plenty of information about the season.

Mary Lindeen has authored many non-fiction books for young children and beginning readers that are wonderful. This is a great book for children learning about the seasons, especially winter. It talks about winter activities, what animals do, about trees losing their leaves and the holidays (New Year's Day, Valentine's Day). It is a beginning basal reader that had realistic pictures to accompany the words. The text is short, perfect for emerging readers. The main facts are probably exactly what a parent or teacher would use to describe the season of winter. This would be a great companion book to "It's Winter, Dear Dragon" by the same publisher. At the end of the book there are activities a teacher or caregiver could do with the reader as well as a list of words used in the book.

This non-fiction book is the perfect one to choose at this time of the year. Nonfiction text is any text that is factual. With soft snowfalls  and blizzard-like storms blowing all around us kids experience the challenges and pure fun of the winter season.  They will relate to the  playful scenarios depicted throughout "Winter".  The book portrays a diversity of people, winter activeness and how people and animals engage in winter. 

This book is educational. A warm intro is presented to caregivers  at the beginning telling them not to worry because listed in the back of the book are reading reinforcement activities to help their emerging reader perform to the maximum.  The author includes: craft and structure (to check your child's understanding of the book), vocabulary (learning content words), foundational skills (possessives), close reading of informational text (helps children comprehend the text), fluency ( the ability to read with accuracy, speed and expression) and a word list of the 82 words that "Winter" uses in the text (high-frequency words and content words). 

Kids simply adore photographs in books.  The ones presented here are big, bold, colourful and crisp.  They give the text credibility and draw the reader in.  This would be a perfect book to have both in a classroom, an elementary school library or in your home. Go ahead jump into winter and embrace the snow.  Highly recommended.

Another excellent book by Mary Lindeen. It's basic, but the kids love these books. They are non-threatening, but beginning readers really feel like they've accomplished something when they are done.