It's Winter!

It’s Winter!

Author: Linda Glaser

Illustrator: Susan Swan

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade Level: K-1

          Have you ever wondered about what happens in the winter? What do animals and people do during this chilly time of the year? It’s Winter! by Linda Glaser tells the story of a young girl’s experience in the northern United States during the winter time. The story begins with the young girl dancing around as it is just beginning to snow. As it nears dark, she gets ready for bed and wonders how deep the snow will be by morning. When she wakes up, she is wearing a scarf, hat, mittens, and boots as she takes her dog for a walk outside. As they walk, they leave deep footprints behind them. Next, the young girl plays with a young boy outside in the snow, making snowmen and snow angels. The author mentions that the children see their breath in the air. 

One day, the girl receives a letter from her grandparents who live in Florida, where it is hot and sunny. She mentions how different times of the year can feel much different in various areas of the country. The next few pages of the book are dedicated to animal activity during the winter. In caves, bats hibernate. Inside trees, honey bees crowd together in a huddle. Underneath the ground, turtles, snakes, worms, chipmunks, and groundhogs are fast asleep. On the next page, the young girl and her friends skate around on a frozen pond, while fish, frogs, and dragonfly nymphs sleep underneath the many layers of ice and Earth. As the young girl is feeding the birds in her yard, she sees a deer and a squirrel searching for food, and mentions how they do not hibernate during the winter. Finally, the young girl looks at the winter sky before bedtime, and sees the constellation Orion. At the end of the story, the young girl sleds down slippery hills with her friend. She notices that the snow is melting, the sun feels strong, and the ground is getting warmer. Soon, it will be spring.

It’s Winter by Linda Glaser is a realistic fiction book. There are several characters in the book including the young, unnamed girl, her friends, and on one page, her mother. There are many different animals in the story, but since it is realistic fiction, they act as animals normally do in real life. The setting of the book is in the northern part of the United States during the winter, and the span of the story is over several days. The young girl narrates the story herself, but there is never any dialogue. This book could be used to teach children about punctuation, since there are many commas, periods, and exclamation points. This book would also be useful to introduce students to onomatopoeia. The author uses many examples of onomatopoeia including words such as “whee,” “cheep,” “shhh,” “crunch,” and “brrr.” 

I enjoy how this book is both chock-full of information while still grabbing kids' attention. This story would be an excellent introduction to young students about the topic of winter. It encompasses many different topics such as hibernation, weather, temperature, climate, seasons, and what people do in the winter. It is informational, while also being an exciting and fun read for young children. There are extension activities at the end of the book for teachers or parents to use with young children, such as keeping bird lists, making pine cone feeders, and listening to winter sounds.

ELA Standards

MA.K.RL.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

MA.1.RL.5 Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types.

MA.1.RL.6. Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.