The Coolness Of Cold

Red skies glow through a flock of sheep-like clouds scattered before an incoming front.  Snow, accumulating snow, is set to arrive within the next couple of days.  Although it is not officially winter, more cold and snow are welcome to those who enjoy all four seasons.  

This portion of the year brings special and specific benefits.  When Winter Comes: Discovering Wildlife in Our Snowy Woods (Little Bigfoot, an imprint of Sasquatch Books, October 13, 2020) written by Aimee M. Bissonette with illustrations by Erin Hourigan reveals those advantages and some mysteries to readers.  Let's follow a family enjoying a winter world and all it offers to them.

When winter comes,

and deep snow blankets the woods,

and ice forms cold and smooth on

the lakes,

thick enough for us to skate on,

some people think our woods 

are empty.

The woods are not empty.  They are still full of nature's inhabitants.  A fallen, hollow log, coated in snow, harbors some insects, amphibians, and other creeping crawlers like snails or slugs.

Under the deep mounds of snow traversed by the family wearing snowshoes, there are tunnels in the protected earth.  Meadow mice scurry on their highways in search of food.  At night when predators roam, they can hide in safety there.

Under the lake's ice, fish move slowly.  Turtles rest in its mud at the bottom.  Above the ground, covered tree branches provide another haven.  In their sheltering boughs, birds are protected from the wild winter winds.  

The members of this family understand that some animals sleep in winter, others hunt, and others run from hunters.  They know the animals by their tracks.  They know the animals by the sounds they make at night.  Each day as they play in the woods, they know they are not alone but are companions with its inhabitants.

When reading the expressive words penned by Aimee M. Bissonette, we find ourselves enjoying winter in the woods along with the family.  Realizing which animals are near is like discovering a secret held by the season.  A rhythm is fashioned from the repetition of the words we know.  Aimee M. Bissonette frequently uses alliteration in her phrases, elevating her cadence.  Here is another passage.

We know the frozen lake where we come to ice fish

hosts a slushy slumber party of

sleepily swimming rainbow trout.

What one word comes to mind when looking at the front, right, of the matching and open dust jacket and book case?  For me, that one word is contentment.  One of the best parts of being outdoors in winter is the hushed but hopeful quality of the atmosphere.  Here, in this first scene, we are a part of that ambience.  It is as if we can feel the curiosity of the wildlife and the anticipation of the family at the same time.  In this frozen moment, all is as it should be.  

To the left, on the back, an interior image from the book is used.  It shows the family's A-Frame home in a meadow surrounded by evergreens with mountains in the distance.  Bird feeders are full of our feathered friends.  A parent and child watch.

On the opening and closing endpapers a muted hue of deep blue is swirled with snow.  Among the swirls are forest animals.  Some are resting and others are in motion.  A smaller illustration on the title page features the family seated on a log at the lake, putting on their ice skates.  In the foreground a rabbit and a mouse linger.  

Each detailed, two-page illustration is a wondrous display of nature, its animal and human residents living together.  Illustrator Erin Hourigan creates panoramic views you want to enter.  When we are close to the people or animals, it is as if we are there with them in the moment.  The people are animated and joyful.  The animals are carefully represented realistically.  Sometimes cutaways supply us with perspectives of activities above and below the surface.  

One of my many favorite pictures is toward the end of the book.  In this spot, we move close to the beings represented.  On the left side of the illustration a white-tailed male deer, wearing a rack of antlers, stands still in front of snow-covered evergreens as if just stepping from the sanctuary of the woods.  In front of him the parents and children are moving toward a hill for sledding.  The mother and one child are pulling sleds.  The child is slightly turned back and sees the deer.  The father is carrying the younger child on his shoulders.  

In this book, When Winter Comes: Discovering Wildlife in Our Snowy Woods written by Aimee M. Bissonette with artwork by Erin Hourigan, we are reminded of the wondrous world we share with its other residents.  We truly are never alone.  Life is all around us.  This will be a wonderful addition to your personal and professional collections to use for discussions on the seasons, wildlife in winter, and the value of conservation.

By following the link attached to the name of Aimee M. Bissonette and Erin Hourigan, you can learn more about them and their other work at their websites.  Aimee M. Bissonette has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Erin Hourigan has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  At Penguin Random House you can view interior images.

There are two important sections of our planet where cold and snow linger longer than any other place.  These locations are essential to maintaining a healthy balance for the continuation of Earth's survival.  They each have distinguishing characteristics with unique plants and animals.  ICE!: Poems About Polar Life (Holiday House, December 1, 2020) written and illustrated by Douglas Florian explores both the Arctic in the north and Antarctica in the south.  Witty wisdom and humor are prevalent in all the poems accompanied by whimsical, signature artwork.

THE POLAR REGIONS

Two polar regions on our Earth, 

and not a third or fourth.  . . .

This is the first sentence in the first of twenty-one poems about the polar regions, Antarctica and the Arctic.  The majority of the poems focus on the animals living in these areas.  Beneath the poems, paragraphs provide facts about each topic.

For these regions the sun, usually warming, is reflected from the snow and ice and maintains the chilly temperatures.  Regardless, ten species of whales are found in Antarctica.  You won't believe what variety of life lives hundreds of years there.  Emperor penguins are the largest penguins on our planet, with the males as protectors of the eggs until they hatch.

Up north in the Arctic climate change is affecting the ice, ice valuable to life there and, ultimately, to all of Earth.  On the Arctic tundra plant and animal life strives to thrive.  Polar bears wearing layers of fur wait for seals, blue whales consuming millions of krill daily are endangered, and Arctic foxes with thicker, bushier tails curl and take cover under those tails against the bitter cold and high winds.

Guess which animal has a special air sac to help them float or which animal can run up to forty miles per hour in spurts to avoid being eaten or which one has "flutings."  Having a hairy nose comes in handy when a moose roams in water.  Teaming up works well for gray wolves when they are hunting.  Caribou hollow hooves cleverly act as both snowshoes and shovels.

As we are entertained with the playful poems and artwork and are astonished by the characteristics of the selected animals, the book closes with a warning about climate change.  This is a difficulty needing a resolution.  We all must do our part.

Admittedly Douglas Florian is a master wordsmith. Each of these twenty-one poems demonstrates his love of language.  His word play is engaging and captivating.  He likens the polar regions to refrigerators.  He replaces words with partial words.  

It's not a place I'd like to live

but an ICE place to visit.

Repetition of a key word identifies the subject without ever mentioning the identifying word.  His rhyming, when used, is beautiful to behold.  Careful readers will spot the use of a homonym.  Within these poems, readers can also glean facts.  Here is a poem in its entirety. 

BLUE WHALE

The largest animal ever on Earth.

Wide as an airplane in its girth.

And head to tail it's just as long.

But yet it stops to sing a song.

And though a blue whale cannot fly,

it loves to leap up toward the sky.

The bones in each flipper resemble a hand,

which means that its ancestors lived on land.

The whale's a tale of evolution---

without an airplane's air pollution.

Rendered with

colored pencils and oil pastels

the illustrations first seen on the open and matching dust jacket and book case by Douglas Florian radiate a childlike quality, but meticulous observers will see the deft placement of prominent characteristics and references to the poems.  The color palette on the front is indeed frosty.  To the left, on the back, an orange canvas (like the shade shown on the front) frames a square image.  Here we see a smaller version of an interior picture of a caribou.  Hats are hanging on its antlers.  And its hooves are wearing boots in reference to their width and capabilities.

A bright blue covers the opening and closing endpapers.  A male emperor penguin shelters a newly hatched chick on the title page prior to the contents' text placed on vivid yellow.  Opposite each poem and factual paragraph is a single, full-page visual.

Highly animated, the pictures paint quirky portraits of the subjects.  The canvases on which the elements are placed mirror the frigid temperatures and biting winds.  A sneezing polar bear, an Arctic fox's barely visible face under its busy tail, an Arctic hare carrying an umbrella and seals wearing party hats and blowing on blowout whistles are only a few of the intriguing, humorous depictions.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the gray wolf.  It is one of the simpler images.  The sky is a darker blue.  A huge yellow moon nearly fills the entire sky.  It rests on a hill.  On top of the hill, facing left and in front of the moon, is a wolf, head raised to howl.  Facing right is the face of the moon.  The moon is howling too.

Your personal and professional collections need this book.  At the close of ICE!: Poems About Polar Life written and illustrated by Douglas Florian, we are treated to a page of information about Douglas Florian, and a bibliography divided into books and internet sources.  This thoroughly spellbinding title will be an excellent and happy introduction, and a promoter of research and discussions.

To learn more about the artwork of Douglas Florian, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Douglas Florian has an account on Instagram.  At the publisher's website there is a two-page educator's guide.  At Penguin Random House you can view portions of the interior including the contents.  I hope you enjoy this recent video with Douglas Florian speaking about poetry.

Arctic Survivor

On December 14, 2015 an article was posted at the National Geographic website.  This article, Extreme Research Shows How Arctic Ice Is Dwindling, written by Andy Isaacson explains the journey of the research ship, Lance.

On the Lance's five-month mission its rotating crew of international scientists would investigate the causes and effects of ice loss by monitoring the ice across its entire seasonal life cycle---from the time when it formed in winter until it melted in summer.

One quote in this informative and interesting essay by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) oceanographer James Overland reads:

The Arctic really is the canary showing that climate change is real.

For species which make their home here and rely on the climate not to change to survive, this is a frightening fact.  The largest living land carnivore is in a precarious position.  The Polar Bear (Enchanted Lion Books, November 15, 2016) written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond (The Blue Whale) serves to enlighten readers about this majestic creature.

Once upon a time, a child took a book from the shelf and started to read...

As she begins to read she learns about the other name for the polar bear, a name given to them for their lives spent on the ice of the Arctic Ocean.  As remarkable as it seems, they thrive in the bitter temperatures, equipped with two layers of fur, thick skin and a layer of fat.  Did you know their necks are longer to help them swim with their heads out of the water?

Their huge paws, sometimes thirteen inches long, act as snowshoes, paddles when swimming and shovels when digging.  The bottoms of their feet are especially equipped to help them walk on ice.  Did you know the skin of polar bears is actually black?

Polar bear eyes and ears are quite like our own, except for a protective layer on their eyes which blocks the sunlight and helps them see underwater.  Their sense of smell, though, is phenomenal.   They can sense seals, their main source of food, miles away.  They can sniff out mates and locate their cubs.

The age of a polar bear can be found by counting the rings on one of their forty-two teeth.  (I might prefer to let that remain a mystery unless a tooth is found without being attached to the bear.)  Their eating habits rely on their food source.  Could you eat a meal every eleven days?  Or go without eating for three months?  As clever as they are at hunting, seals are much faster; more get away than are eaten by polar bears.

A home habitat for a polar bear can cover hundreds of miles of ice and ice floes.  After mating in the spring, the male will leave.  The female will only become pregnant in the fall if she has enough fat.  For three years cubs will stay with their mother learning how to survive.  Like humans at the end of the day or when exhausted, polar bears enjoy a good sleep.  It's all about survival.


By using a young girl wearing a red crown, dressed in cozy clothing and boots and reading this book, Jenni Desmond provides an inviting opening to this nonfiction narrative.  The child begins by reading the book in her home and then becomes part of the Arctic landscape as she continues to read.  In turn this brings us full circle on the final page, tying the actions of the polar bear to those of the girl.  In this way it's as if we are reading the same words at the same time as the girl.

Desmond breaks down the facts about the polar bear inserting them into conversational paragraphs; life on the ice, habitat and temperature, individual physical characteristics, socialization, hunting and eating, territory, swimming, mating, birth and life of the cubs and sleep.  Her research is evident providing her with captivating facts which she shares.  Here are two portions of a passage.

Polar bears have three ways of hunting.  The most common is waiting by a hole or at the edge of the ice for a seal to surface.  Then the bear will grab the seal with its teeth and pull it onto the ice.

Another is sneaking up on a seal that is already on the ice and then running at full speed to catch it.  A polar bear can run faster than the fastest human but only for a few seconds.


At her website Jenni Desmond states:

I work by hand using mixed media, and finish the artwork digitally.

On her matching dust jacket and book case, she places the subject of the book front and center, as if we are locked in a gaze with the polar bear.  Behind the bear and to the left, on the back, a barren Arctic panoramic view is broken by the flight of five geese.

The opening and closing endpapers are nearly identical.  The top half is the rolling hills of snow and the sun shining in an Arctic hazy sky.  The bottom half is the icy blue of the Arctic Ocean.  The polar bear is swimming to the right.  The little girl is kayaking, a tiny element in this grand scheme.  She does switch direction in the two.

The title page shows the girl removing this book from a shelf with other northern life and nature titles including Desmond's own The Blue Whale.  The heavier matte-finished paper gives realistic texture to the images.  The first picture gives us a view beyond the bookshelf of the girl stretched on a bed covered in cozy blankets.  Next to it is a low table with colored pencils, a sketch pad, a tea pot and a bowl of colored balls.  Her stuffed toys, eight animals, are reading along with her.

All of the illustrations span two pages.  Their scope and perspective impressively vary from the polar bear much smaller walking through a blizzard, showing him on an ice floe between glaciers, shaking off water and splashing the girl to an extreme close-up of his nose working to locate food, a mate, cubs or danger.  In one of many wonderful sequences we are given a bird's eye view of the bear swimming between ice floes with the girl leaning over to watch.  They are placed in the far right-hand corner.  With a page turn we are close to both of them, watching how the bear's body moves under water.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of the girl sitting on one side of a crevice and the polar bear on the other side.  The crevice is shown like a peak of a mountain stretching downward into the deep Arctic waters.  The polar bear can smell the seal swimming to the surface. The girl is holding a fishing pole over the water.  On either side of the hole is a large expanse of snow.


The Polar Bear written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond is a stunning piece of nonfiction.  In an Author's Note prior to the title page she speaks about the need to protect the polar bear and their habitat.  Their habitat protects our planet.  This title appears on The New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2016.

To learn more about Jenni Desmond and her other work please follow the links attached to her name to access her website and blog.  Jenni maintains a Twitter and an Instagram account.  Jenni Desmond was the recipient of a 2016 Sendak Fellowship.

You can find more information about polar bears at ARKIVE.  For more information about the Arctic and climate change go to the World Wildlife Foundation site and another page here.

Please visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to see the other titles selected by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Seasonal Survivors

After every snowfall evidence of the neighborhood wildlife is seen in crazy lines on the surface going from yard to yard, in and out of driveways and down the street.  These clues as to identity and directions taken are like searching for treasure.  Some of the prints are repeated again and again in the same spots; pathways instinctively used toward a food source.

On those frigid nights when the house creaks and snaps with the temperature changes, I often think about whether those critters are snug and safe.  In the most recent title in his nature series, Frozen Wild: How Animals Survive In The Coldest Places On Earth (Sterling Children's Books, September 1, 2015) Jim Arnosky writes and illustrates beautifully about animals living in extreme seasonal conditions.  The adaptability of these animals is nearly miraculous.

Quietly it comes. 

Those three words in the introduction create many questions which are expertly answered in the remainder of the introduction, nine subsequent chapters, an author's note and a lengthy bibliography.  We are pointed to the signs all around us of the approaching solstice.

Mighty rivers flow more slowly, turning to slush.  And the north wind blows.

 We learn how the earth's position causes winter at different times in the northern and southern hemispheres.

Though ice forms on the top of streams, rivers, ponds and lakes there is active life underneath each of them.  Look closely at the air hole on top of a beaver lodge the next time the mercury dips deeply in the thermometer.  What will you see?  Plunge holes and webbed feet assist other water mammals and ducks.  Travel over the snow depends on its depth, the weight of the animals, extra fur on their feet and the length and sturdiness of their legs.

To the north in the Arctic, life is further challenged with temperatures known to drop to -80 degrees Fahrenheit.  Brrr! Land, air and sea animals can change colors to camouflage themselves, grow tusks and teeth to fight off other males of their kind, have thick layers of fat and extra fur to keep them warm and either circle together or scatter when a predator advances.  Woodland creatures have extra fat and fur to keep them warm and dry, too.  Birds fluff feathers to create another layer of warmth, air heated by their bodies.

Far down at the southern end of our planet the continent of Antarctica is residence to only penguins, sea birds and seals.  The Wandering Albatross and the Emperor Penguin hold world records with their wing span and diving abilities respectively.  Did you know some of the birds have special tubular noses to enhance their smelling abilities for food?  Cool facts about these creatures living in the coldest conditions are fascinating and captivating.


The familiarity Jim Arnosky has with his subject is evident in the relaxed manner used in the delivery of his narrative.  The explicit information about each animal points to extensive research.  The mix of long chapter introductions and the shorter image captions creates an engaging pace.  Here are some sample passages from the Beavers In Winter chapter.

Introductory sentences from Under the Ice

When a landscape is frozen and covered with snow, water still flows and fish still swim under the ice that forms on the rivers and lakes.  It is cold down deep, but not freezing.  River otters find openings in the ice to dive through and hunt for fish and crayfish.  Otters hunt in a circuit of "plunge holes" that takes about two weeks to complete.

Caption on fold out three page illustration

A beaver lodge is an impenetrable
fortress that even the largest
predators cannot claw into.  


All of the pictures, the matching dust jacket and book case and the interior pages, are rendered by Jim Arnosky in pencil and acrylic paints.  They are rich in atmosphere, realistic detail, color, light and shadow.  The opening and closing endpapers are in a cool pale blue, slightly lighter than the text on the title page.  A seal is featured on the table of contents page.  To the right of five chapters are paw prints signifying a fold out.

Each of the chapter introductions is framed in exquisite pencil drawings of animals, objects and scenes relative to the topic.  Opposite each introduction, even those that are fold out paintings, are single page illustrations.  The fold out pages are striking.  The first is a cutaway of a beaver lodge.  In the upper right-hand corner is a small image of the lodge during the fall as it is being constructed.  The second is four pages seamlessly blending several habitats of the animals in the Arctic.

One of my favorite illustrations, other than the front dust jacket picture, is the Snow Travelers picture.  It's at night during a light snow.   A large bull moose is standing on a hill with trees in the background.  Scampering in front of him is a snowshoe rabbit leaving tracks behind with back paws raised to the reader.  Two birds are in flight to the left.


Frozen Wild: How Animals Survive In The Coldest Places On Earth written and illustrated by Jim Arnosky is a remarkable portrayal of animals.  Readers will enjoy the new information and study the stunning pictures; both inviting further investigation.  I highly recommend the addition of this title to professional libraries and personal bookshelves for those interested in our natural world.

To learn more about Jim Arnosky and his other books please visit his website by following the link attached to his name.  Jim Arnosky is interviewed at Unleashing Readers and The Children's Book Review about title.

Remember to stop at Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the choices selected by the other bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.