Winter Is the Warmest Season: A Winter and Holiday Book for Kids

The child narrator of this book is devoted to convincing us that winter is the warmest season (yes, yes, you guessed that from the title, you're very clever). The examples *are* convincing - in winter, we have feet on our pajamas, we eat grilled cheese instead of cold jelly, we turn on radiators instead of fans, the cats sleep on our laps instead of on our windowsills. However, what I really like about this book is the artwork. They just make me feel emotionally... well... warm. I know that that's pretty vague, but it's the truth.

Finally, winter gets the respect it deserves! As a person who survived record-breaking snowfall this winter, I read this book with a smile on my face. Bring it on!

My grandchildren and I really enjoyed the artwork and the story. It was a joy to read.

What's that you say...Winter is the WARMEST season?! NOOO--how can that be?! Ms. Lauren Stringer answers skeptics and pre-schoolers alike with this lavishly illustrated and imaginatively written book. It's going to make my list of top 20 books read in 2007, because Stinger's case for winter is both compelling and beautiful. The premise would engagte any toddler or early grade schooler, but Stringer runs confidently with it, writing as captivating and luscious a book as I've read in quite some time. If you've read the other reviews and product description, you'll know that both the practical (warm clothing) and the emotional (warm feelings) effectively contradict what the thermometer tells us. However, it's the way that Ms. Stringer tells the story that makes all the difference. It's a very active book, both in the active (as opposed to passive) voice, and the way she animates the objects that warm us. The young narrator doesn't merely say he put on a warm hat and coat; instead, he tells us, "my hat grows earflaps," and "my jacket puffs warm with feathers." Later, the boy's pajamas "will grow big warm feet." Winter doesn't rest here, it's alive and full of possibilities. (Actually, one skillful illustration shows assorted animals hibernating underground, while above, the "the snowman I build dance on top, wearing warm wraparound scarves.") Transformations continue: "My iced summer's milk turns to hot chocolate. Cold jelly sandwiches turn into grilled cheeses." Throughout her book, Ms. Springer's imagery and language are spectacular: "When winter comes, summer's cool fans hide in dark basements... while sleeping rasiators awake to their dragon selves, banging and hissing and pouring heat all through my house." This is pure poetry, and belies any thought that writing really good books for kids can be done by just anyone. I mentioned the emotional warmth that the book conveys, and we feel this in cats who sit on laps, and in festive, candle-lit parties with music ansd dancing and warm, festive clothing, snuggling and reading in bed with your parents and your cat, and later with your teddy bear. A surprise tops it off, in winter the boy might just dream of summer..."just to cool me off!" The acrylic on watercolor paper illustrations are just as rich and inviting as the prose, with action and bold patterns and a varied palette (although warm colors abound.) A tour de force, in any season.

This is a wonderful story about all the different ways that make winter warmer than any other season. It starts off by stating that most people think summer is the warmest season and then continues to list the ways that winter is actually warmer(hot cocoa, thick blankets, fireplaces, hot baths, ect.) My daughter who is two really enjoys this book, but I think that I actually like it even more than she does. The illustrations are beautiful and the story even makes me warm inside on those snowy below zero days.