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Five Faves: New Winter Picture Books

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Picture books in a winter setting are a beloved romanticism of the genre --soft illustrations in cool palettes, carry a sense of nostalgia from our own cozy winter days.  So every year, readers can look forward to a new crop of snowy gems to appear on their bookshelves. Here are some of the notable winter picture books published in 2024: 

By Renée Kurilla
New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2024. Picture Book.

Covering a variety of facets of the season, both old and new, from snow day fun to multiple holidays (like Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, and Valentine's Day,) It's Winter has a large inclusive scope that will serve as the perfect introductory text for preschoolers. The illustrations, in Kurilla's signature style, and sparse rhyming text will have readers coming back for more, and make possibly unfamiliar topics feel approachable.

Written by Kate Allen Fox
Illustrated by Elisa Paganelli
Minneapolis, MN: Beaming Books, 2024. Picture Book.

Half ode to community, half informational text on solstices, Winter Solstice Wish comes together as lyrical whole bound together by crystalline digital illustrations. 


Frostfire
By Elly MacKay
Toronto: Tundra Books, 2024. Picture Book.

Sisters, Miriam and Celeste, head out for a walk on a dazzling snowy day. Miriam, a dragon expert, has a dragon-related answer for all of Celeste's observations and questions as they continue along their way.  That's frost, you say? Oh no, that's where a snow dragon was breathing fire, of course, frostfire! Set in the unique and beautiful world of MacKay's shadowbox illustrations, readers are in for sweet, visual treat!

Alice in a Winter Wonderland
By Jan Brett
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2024. Picture Book.

Jan Brett has released a whimsically detailed take on Lewis Carroll's  Alice in Wonderland, but this time our setting is Alaska. In this retelling, Alice follows a white rabbit down a glacier crevasse and encounters madcap versions of Carroll's classic characters, like the extinct Smilodan as the Cheshire Cat and the Varying (or Snowshoe) Hare in place of the March Hare. Key moments from the original work, like the tea party, are revisited. Fans of Brett and Carroll will find much to delight in!

Counting Winter
Written by Nancy White Carlstrom
Illustrated by Claudia McGehee
Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2024. Picture Book.

In Counting Winter, powerhouse Carlstrom composes a four to five line poem for each Alaskan animal featured in the reader's count to twelve. Her verses are accompanied by stunning scratchboard line illustrations that give a sense of the movement and energy to each animal, while staying true to a folk art mood, producing a match made in wintery heaven. 








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