Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner (Chronicle, 2011) captures the fascinating natural worlds below the snow. As a child cross-country skis with her father, she learns about the animals hiding underneath her feet. In beautiful illustrations, the over and under natural worlds are revealed. Raisin loved finding the mice, bears, bullfrogs, and so forth in the illustrations, and he was fascinated by the concept of the animals living underneath the snow layers during the winter.
Over and Under the Snow is a fantastic picture celebrating nature; I imagine it will open up plenty of discussion for the child interested in animals and nature. I love engaging picture books that also happen to teach me something – even as an adult!.