Winter Wonderland Picture Books

Friday Five Winter

It’s time for another round up of books, and given the time of year, this week we are sharing some of our favourite Winter picture books with you! These are the perfect books for curling up together under a colsie blanket, and dreaming about another snow day. So, clockwise, starting from the top:

  • The Tomten, by Astrid Lindgren (author) & Harald Wiberg (illustrator) – A ‘Tomte’ is a mythological, sprite-like creature from Swedish folklore, often depicted with a long white beard and wearing a red hat. In this story, set in rural Sweden, he visits the animals in the barn during Winter, while everyone else is asleep. He whispers softly to them, making sure they are safe, and promising Spring will come soon. Nothing much else happens, it’s just a beautiful, very atmospheric story. It’s also great for younger children learning their animals. We love reading this together, and imagining we had so much snow too! The photo in the image above is of my own, much-loved German copy of the book from when I was a kid, but it is available in English too.
  • The Storm Whale in Winter, by Benji Davies – This is a follow up to the book ‘The Storm Whale’, in which a little boy called Noi, who lives on an island, saves a whale in the Summer. Now it’s Winter, and little does Noi know it’s the whale’s turn to save him. A touching story about friendship, with beautiful illustrations. While it helps to know the back story, this wintery tale can be enjoyed even without having read the first book.
  • Walking in a Winter Wonderland, based on the song by Felix Bernard & Richard B Smith, pictures by Tim Hopgood – This is fairly recent purchase, which I got last November. It follows the lyrics of the classic song ‘Winter Wonderland’ and will leave you yearning for a Winter Wonderland of your own to walk through! The illustrations are, again, beautiful and the books comes with a CD that includes a rendition of the song performed by Peggy Lee, a track of the text as presented in the book, with audible page turn signals, and an interactive listening game.
  • Angelina Ice Skates, by Katharine Holabird (author) & Helen Craig (illustrator) – I only picked up this book in a charity shop a couple of days ago! It seems to be only available from third party sellers right now, but I thought I would include it anyway as it has become an instant favourite. It is set at New Year’s, but that’s only secondary to the story so easily translates to the rest of Winter too. Angelina and her friends are rehearsing for an ice dance performance, but two big boys from school keep causing trouble. After a big snowball fight, the two sides find a way to get along and make the show a success, and the whole village comes together for the final celebration. I can’t ice skate for the life of me, but this cute story just wants to make you have a snowball fight, build a giant ice fortress, and skate the night away!
  • Over and Under the Snow, by Kate Messner (author) & Christopher Silas Neal (illustrator) – And, finally, our last choice is kind of a non fiction book but told in a story narrative, if that makes any sense. It starts with a child (it’s never stated whether it’s a boy or a girl) going skiing in the woods with their father, and seeing a squirrel disappear. Puzzled where it has gone, the father tells them about the ‘secret kingdom under the snow’. The child then goes on to juxtapose what is happening above the snow – gliding past trees, spotting animals tracks, cooking hotdogs on a bonfire – with the animals living and hibernating below. It ends with the child going to bed and dreaming of the secret kingdom. At the back of the book, there is some factual information about the subnivean zone – the actual name of the secret kingdom – and about each of the featured animals. My 7 year old, who is very in to his natural history, is fascinated by this book and I have found him reading it on his own on several occasions.

What are your favourite Winter picture books? Please feel free to share your recommendations in the comments below! You may also want to check out my previous round up of ‘Picture Books About Snow‘.


Please note that the book links in this post are Amazon affiliate links. That means if you buy any books via these links, I receive a small percentage – at no extra cost to you! – which helps to keep this blog running. Thank you.

Comments: 9

  • reply
    12 January 2018

    I’m not sure how, but I haven’t heard of these ones! Always on the lookout for new books so will certainly be checking these out, they sound lovely x

  • reply
    12 January 2018

    Great selection. As you know I shared 5 yesterday which included 2 of these. The other 3 are new to me. I had no idea the storm whale in winter was a sequel. Now I need to find the first book!

  • reply

    John Milnes

    12 January 2018

    These are a great selection of books. There maybe something here for my daughter to read.

    Thank for Sharing

    John M

  • reply
    12 January 2018

    All of these children’s books look great – love the looks of the Whale in Winter. Su

  • reply
    12 January 2018

    These look like a really good selection. I haven’t seen them before so I may keep a look out for a couple! x

  • reply
    12 January 2018

    These all sound beautiful – I’ve not heard of any of them so I’m definitely going to seek them out. I loved theming our book collection for the seasons, it keeps it really fresh.

  • reply
    14 January 2018

    Oh what a gorgeous selection! We love to read together and always on the look out for new books. Angelina ice skates looks like a book my girls would enjoy!

  • reply
    15 January 2018

    These are so many books and all sounds interesting based on your summary. I actually don’t have any special books for any season. I just go on, grab a book and read when I want to.

  • reply
    16 January 2018

    I’ve not seen any of these yet but I like to buy books for friends’ children so I will keep an eye out for them.

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