Winter Is Coming

by Tony Johnston (Author) Jim LaMarche (Illustrator)

Winter Is Coming
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Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
cms Common Sense Media Review
"A quiet, beautiful picture book to share." --Booklist (starred review) "This gentle, lyrical celebration of the natural world will reward similarly observant readers." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "A touching reminder about the beauty of the natural world." --School Library Journal (starred review) "With meditative language, Johnston offers a vivid sense of the changing seasons and of stillness. LaMarche quietly and sensitively portrays a child who's comfortable spending hours alone, working on her own projects and observing--a young naturalist." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Witness the changing of a season through a watchful child's eyes in this story of nature and discovery from award-winning author Tony Johnston and New York Times Best Illustrated artist Jim La Marche. Day after day, a girl goes to her favorite place in the woods and quietly watches from her tree house as the chipmunks, the doe, the rabbits prepare for the winter. As the temperature drops, sunset comes earlier and a new season begins. Silently she observes the world around her as it reveals its secrets. It takes time and patience to see the changes as, slowly but surely, winter comes.
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Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

A dark-haired girl sits alone in the woods, observing the behavior of animals from a platform up in a tree. Each animal that ventures into the clearing is getting ready for winter's cold. Though the foliage glows, food is becoming harder to find: "The mother bear snuffles for food among the flaming leaves. The cub snuffles too. But no luck.... Winter is coming." The girl's narration makes it clear that her family possesses a store of knowledge about the natural world. About skunks, she says, "I can smell them before I see them. Not a bad smell; a real smell. My father says animals are true to themselves." In one of several spreads meticulously worked with feather-light strokes, LaMarche (A Single Pearl) looks down on both the skunks and the girl on her platform, doubling the sense of secret observation. Sketches of the skunks lie beside her. With meditative language, Johnston (The Cat with Seven Names) offers a vivid sense of the changing seasons and of stillness. LaMarche quietly and sensitively portrays a child who's comfortable spending hours alone, working on her own projects and observing--a young naturalist. Ages 4-8. (Aug.)

Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

A dark-haired girl sits alone in the woods, observing the behavior of animals from a platform up in a tree. Each animal that ventures into the clearing is getting ready for winter's cold. Though the foliage glows, food is becoming harder to find: "The mother bear snuffles for food among the flaming leaves. The cub snuffles too. But no luck.... Winter is coming." The girl's narration makes it clear that her family possesses a store of knowledge about the natural world. About skunks, she says, "I can smell them before I see them. Not a bad smell; a real smell. My father says animals are true to themselves." In one of several spreads meticulously worked with feather-light strokes, LaMarche (A Single Pearl) looks down on both the skunks and the girl on her platform, doubling the sense of secret observation. Sketches of the skunks lie beside her. With meditative language, Johnston (The Cat with Seven Names) offers a vivid sense of the changing seasons and of stillness. LaMarche quietly and sensitively portrays a child who's comfortable spending hours alone, working on her own projects and observing—a young naturalist. Ages 4-8. (Aug.)—Publishers Weekly, *STARRED REVIEW "May 26, 2014 "
Tony Johnston
Tony Johnston is the award-winning author of more than 100 beloved children's books. Throughout her career, she has worked at a children's bookstore, taught a course on picture book writing at UCLA, and studied poetry writing for children with Myra Cohn Livingston. Johnston lives with her family in San Marino, California, where she grew up.

Tomie dePaola was born in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1934, to a family of Irish and Italian background. His determination to create books for children led to a BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and an MFA from the California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, California. His particular way with color, line, detail, and design have earned him many of the most prestigious awards in his field, among them a Caldecott Honor Award for Strega Nona, the Smithsonian Medal, the Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota for his "singular attainment in children's literature," the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal for his "continued distinguished contribution," and the University of Southern Mississippi Medallion. He was also the 1990 United States nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustration, and received the Children's Literature Legacy Award for lifetime contribution to children's literature in 2011.
DePaola has published almost 200 children's books in 15 different countries over the past 30 years. Among his most well-known titles are the Strega Nona series, 26 Fairmount Avenue, and The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush.
DePaola lives in an interesting house in New Hampshire with his four dogs. His studio is in a large renovated 200-year-old barn.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781442472518
Lexile Measure
490
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Publication date
August 26, 2014
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV029000 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | General
Library of Congress categories
Forest animals
Autumn
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