By Sean Taylor & Alex Morss, illustrated by Cinyee Chiu
words & pictures, 2020
Picture book, 32 pages, ages 5-7
An unnamed boy (who narrates the story) stays at Granny Sylvie’s house during the summer. One of their favorite things to do together is exploring outside, where Granny shares her knowledge of the natural world. Their special spot is the secret glade. When the boy comes back to visit in the winter, the secret glade has changed. To the boy’s eyes, nothing is alive, but Granny Sylvie explains that hidden away in trees and underneath their feet, animals are hibernating. Boy and Granny spend the day exploring and discussing how different animals sleep through the winter, until it’s time to go home and have their own winter sleep.
An enchanting exploration of wintertime walks, animal behaviors, and intergenerational bonds.
Back matter includes “What is hibernation?” and “How You Can Help”, along with lots of interesting tidbits about different hibernators.
As an adult, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found the explanation of hibernation fascinating. The back matter contains a trove of information that is simple, beautifully worded, and easily understandable. While most picture books have 1 or 2 pages of back matter, this book has 10! Some readers might find that to be too much, but I did not.
Will kids like this book? If they like animals and nature, they will probably enjoy it as much as I did. Its gentle pacing may be too quiet for action lovers.
This would be a wonderful selection for a library and could be used in a variety of settings. It’s a good “winding down for the day” bedtime book. The vocabulary and sentence structure are such that beginning readers can read the book by themselves. Teachers and homeschoolers could use this for lessons. And the intergenerational aspect (which will undoubtedly appeal to grandparents) is a good depiction of a healthy, loving relationship between grandparent and grandchild.
I have to take a paragraph and gush about the gorgeous illustrations by Cinyee Chiu. The colors! The textures! The details! I’m in love.
The writing, the illustrations, the opportunities for learning – even the way the book is bound and printed – is spot on. Highly recommended.
Winter Sleep by Sean Taylor gets 5 stars from this reviewer.