Book Review(s): Three Books for a Winter's Night

As the snow begins to fall and the nights begin to get colder and blustery, here are three books that celebrate winter with royal chickens, beautiful snowflakes, and everyone's favorite snowman.

Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella by Jan Brett- The tale  Cinderella has been told in many different ways ( even in stage plays and film, from Disney to Cinderfella with Jerry Lewis). In this version, author-illustrator Jan Brett brings in chickens, silver eggs, and a snowy Russian landscape. I especially love the big fold out page toward the middle a fairy Silkie watches  chickens and other fowl-feathered creatures dance in a moonlit ice palace.

Snowflakes Fall by Patricia Maclachlan- Children are like snowflakes, no two the same but all beautiful. Maclachan's simple tale, along with Steven Kellog's whimsical illustrations, portray a winter season that celebrates nature's joys, sorrows, and beauties. Also worth noting is that this book was written as a tribute to the communities of Newton and Sandy Hook, Connecticut (it's mentioned in the author's and illustrator's notes at the beginning of the book) and that Random House has made a donation to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund with the publication of this book.

 Frosty the Snowman by Steven Nelson and Jack Rollins- Most of us know the song " Frosty the Snowman" ( or seen the 1969 cartoon with " Happy Birthday" or read the 1950 Little Golden Book by Ann Bedford). For the 2013 book, illustrator Wade Zahares ( Red are the Apples and Window Music) illustrates Frosty's blue and white world with reds, yellows, and an orange sunset. Great for storytime,especially if you can get the kids to join you in on the " Thumpy,thump,thump." It also comes with a 3 song CD from Kenny Loggins ( he performs " Frosty" plus two other songs that are catchy and toe-tapping but not really Christmasy.)



Cinders: a Chicken Cinderlla by Jan Brett
Age  Range: 3-7


Snowflakes Fall by Patricia Maclachlan
Age Range: 3-6

 Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson
Age Range: 3-6
Lexile: 770

All: ***** ( 5 stars)

I mentioned the new Frosty comes with a 3 song CD from Kenny Loggins ( known best for the 80s' movie soundtracks of Footloose and Top Gun). In 1998, he released his own Christmas CD, December, which features a mix of classic and new songs for the holidays(It's one of my favorite holidays albums I like to put on each November-December). Here is one of the tracks, " Bells of Christmas". Enjoy!