Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Oakdale Library | EASY STR | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | EASY STR | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Most people think summer is the warmest season. This story, however, is brimming with evidence to the contrary--from roaring fires to grilled cheese sandwiches to toasty flannel pajamas. A unique twist on the traditional wintertime picture book, the beautiful visual narrative follows a boy and his family through a day of hot breakfasts, steaming afternoon cocoa, and a festive candlelit party before bed.
With its inviting scenes, poetic text,and gorgeous illustrations, Winter Is the Warmest Season celebrates all the wonderful things that make winter the coziest time of the year.
Author Notes
LAUREN STRINGER has illustrated many picture-book favorites, including Castles, Caves, and Honeycombs by Linda Ashman and Mud by Mary Lyn Ray. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this cozy, wintertime picture book, a child muses about how most people think the warmest season is "summer,/ with its long steamy days./ But not me./ My world is warmest in winter." The child lists a plethora of things that demonstrate warmth in winter-a hat that "grows earflaps," and, in one of the strongest illustrations, animals sleeping "under thick blankets of snow," pictured curled up, embryo-like, in safe circular havens below ground. Sometimes the text contrasts winter- and summertime activities, with a sprinkling of comfy imagery, as when "summer's cool fans hide/ in dark basements" and winter's "sleeping radiators awake/ to their dragon selves, banging/ and hissing." Youngest readers may have difficulty following some of the more abstract acrylic paintings. For instance, to illustrate the radiators, cloud-like patches of snow in each corner of the spread feature either the text or images of two cats peering out of attic windows, while the interior of the house spreads out like a fan, with radiators steaming in three different rooms above a basement with a pot-bellied furnace. While children may be intrigued by all the warm things to be found in coldest winter, there's little visual plot in this lengthy volume, and Stringer's raindrops-on-roses litany full of "warm woolly sweaters" and "candles burn[ing] in candleplaces," may not be enough to keep young readers turning the pages. Ages 3-7. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Winter? Cold? It's all in the way you look at things as this imaginative book makes clear. A boy proclaims that summer notwithstanding, his world is warmest in winter. His puffy jacket is cozy, and a fire burns in the fireplace. Comparisons between summer and winter come in clever pairs: jelly sandwiches turn into grilled cheese; cool swims turn into hot baths. Nor is it just the boy who feels the difference: the cat cuddles on laps instead of stretching out on the windowsill. In a linguistic rhapsody, the boy explains how sleeping radiators awake to their dragon selves, banging and hissing and pouring heat. It takes special art to accentuate the evocative words, and Stringer, who has illustrated many books for others, provides distinctive pictures for herself. With fascinating perspectives that sometimes start on the ceiling, the deeply hued acrylic artwork ranges from friendly to joyous, as in a two-page spread of a party filled with fun and music. A special book worthy of many readings, this radiates warmth. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2006 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-In this playful concept book, Stringer enumerates the joys of winter to prove her point that it is the "warmest season." Children don puffy jackets, deep boots, and hats with earflaps. The cold sandwiches and drinks of summer are replaced by hot soups, pies, and breads. Nights are warm, with fireplaces and candles burning, and gatherings of friends and family. Each fanciful acrylic spread is carefully composed with an eye toward balance and to drawing readers' eyes across the pages. Thus, on one spread, while a boy and his dog dance past snowmen at the top, a row of hibernating animals burrow beneath a layer of snow across the bottom. There's a lively flow to both illustration and text, with cheerfully jumbled perspectives and a sense of the ongoing cycle of seasons. A cheerful celebration of winter's pleasures.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A child rhapsodizes over winter's warmth. Looking out the window at the falling snow, the young narrator declares, "My world is warmest in winter," and proceeds to a list of favorite things all depicted along the way. He begins with fuzzy boots and a puffy jacket and woolly sweaters, followed by building snowmen outside, then warming up with hot chocolate (or soup) inside. There, radiators hiss, parties are warmer and the cat sits on your lap instead of a window sill. Extra blankets make the bed snug, winter pajamas have feet and bodies sit closer while reading longer books. And once snuggled down in bed, one might dream of summer. Prolific illustrator Stringer's first try at text is slight and unexceptional, but the pictures, many on double-page spreads, in gorgeous glowing acrylics on watercolor paper, capture the warmth and vibrancy of her unique premise. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
