Winter Book Basket, First Installment

This summer I came up with a pretty good system for storing our seasonal books.  It has been very easy for me to grab a bag and restock our book basket.  I've also whittled our books down to my (and the kids) very favorites, so with a few exceptions the books that are in the basket are what we have out at a given time.  Jack has several novels out at a time and Lucy also has an early reader basket that changes every few weeks.  I love marking the change in seasons by pulling out loved and timely books. I especially love putting away the Christmas books (about 28 of them by Epiphany!) and enjoying the pared down simplicity of a few books in a basket.  

Jack's school main lesson block for January regards measuring time with calendars and clocks, so I've included a few books tied to that theme, as well as our first batch of wintery books.

Winter Days in the Big Woods   is part of the series of picture books created from the full length Little House books.  I think they are by far the best "derivative" books I've come across.  They somehow manage to retain all the magic off the original books.  Probably because they don't try to retell an entire novel in one little picture book, but instead tell a much smaller story found in the larger story.  We love all of them, and own most of them.  


Dance at Grandpa's   - Another reason they are so lovely is because the publisher secured permission from the estate of the original illustrator (Garth Williams) to use his style and images for these newer books.  


Around the Year  Lovely poems and illustrations from Elsa Beskow that follow the months of the year, a well as the hours of the day and days of the week.  I had forgotten that it also had the days of the week, I'll use this tomorrow with Lucy as she and I have been making a perpetual calendar together.  

The Tale of Urso Brunov : Little Father of All Bears by Brian Jacques.  We love this story from the Redwall author.  Urso Brunov is only the size of a thumb, but very fierce and brave - a perfect story for Lucy!  Jack hasn't read any of the Redwall books yet, but I've got them on his long list.  


January Rides the Wind: A Book of Months by Charlotte Otten is one of those books that is out of print but shouldn't be.  It has gorgeous illustrations as well as a great, short poem that really personifies each month, at least in our climate!  Jack is using these poems for the calendar he is creating.  


Jack and I love  The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren, Lucy less so.  Oh well, I'll keep reading it.  The meter of the story language is so soothing and quiet.  Perfect for a bedtime story.  

So there you have it, the contents of our first winter story basket.  If it ever snows again (we have a little bit on the ground) I'll bring out the more snow based winter books.  I probably have enough winter books to do three baskets spread across the season.  What are your favorite winter books?  Please do share in the comments below.