The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (published 1940) is a great tale of endurance and survival for the Ingalls family, pioneers in the brand new city of De Smet in the Dakota territory. During this historic winter, frequent blizzards lasting 3 or 4 days crippled towns and halted railway traffic, which means that De

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Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All by Chanel Miller (Philomel Books, April 2024) is a somewhat ridiculous but delightful short chapter book about finding not just entertainment during a boring summer but also building friendships with unexpected people. Magnolia and her new friend from California, Iris, undertake a project: find the owners of all the unmatched

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Our Colonial Year written and illustrated by Cheryl Harness (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2005) is a unique picture book to introduce the thirteen original colonies in the Americas, using a calendar as a frame. Each month of the year is represented by a different colony, with an illustration to show the way

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Spring Walk by Virginia Brimhall Snow (Grimms Smith, 2019) is a refreshing spring book. The book’s focus is two-fold. First there are light, black-and-white line illustrations and a simply rhyming text. In this, the author-illustrator shows children going for a nature walk in a garden with Grammy. Then, in the foreground on each page is

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With a rhythm and rhyme of just a few syllables per page, Bloom Boom by April Pulley Sayre (Beach Lane Books, 2019) provides not just a simple read-aloud for young children but also a great book of inspiration for finding flowers and other blooming plants that one enjoys. This book of flower photography is a

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Hot Dog by Doug Salati (Random House, May 2022) contrasts the oppressive heat of a busy city in summer with the bright freedom and delight of an open beach. The nameless dog obviously swelters in the sun and then delights it in as he leaps across the sand and splashes in cool blue waves. It’s

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With gorgeous, realistic illustrations, author-illustrator Lynne Cherry takes the reader through the process of starting a garden in the picture book How Groundhog’s Garden Grew (Blue Sky Press, 2003). This time it is a garden planned and planted by Groundhog, with Squirrel’s help. The garden begins with gathering seeds in fall, and then, after hibernating

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Just One Flake by Travis Jonker (Abrams, October 2023) is a short and cute picture book featuring one kid who desperately wants to catch a snowflake on his tongue — just one! It’s finally snowing. But catching a snowflake on his tongue turns out to be more difficult than he expected. My daughter was so

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Ice Cycle by Maria Gianferrari, illustrated by Jieting Chen (Millbrook Press, 2022) is subtitled “Poems about the Life of Ice,” and I must say that, just as I had never considered the variety of animals living near icebergs, I had never considered varieties of ice on which those animals live! Yes, as Gianferrari shows in

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Build, Beaver, Build by Sandra Markle is a book about beavers at the largest beaver dam in the world. Sandra Markle is a name that I’ve come across many times in my years of reading children’s fiction. I have reviewed two of her scientific mystery books on this site: The Case of the Vanishing Little

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Little One by Jo Weaver shows a mama bear and her little cub coming out of hibernation and into the world for a summer of adventure. The completely black-and-white pencil sketches are surprisingly detailed and engaging. In fact, they perfectly capture the simple details of learning to befriend little creatures, find food, and pad back through

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