Review by Booklist Review
A lyrical marriage of picture-book sensibility with nonfiction substance, Winter Sleep is a wondrous introduction to the magic of hibernation for juvenile readers. A young boy's stay with his grandmother in the summer prominently features a nature walk to a secret glade, where their quiet and stillness is rewarded with visits from many different forest creatures. Taylor (When a Monster Is Born, 2007) and Morss then move the setting to winter, where, upon his return, the nameless boy finds the glade completely transformed into a desolate landscape. When the boy exclaims, "Nothing's alive in winter!" Granny shows her grandson how insects, reptiles, and mammals survive the winter by hibernating. Chiu's dense, full-bleed illustrations do a nice job of showcasing the appeal of the natural world, both in the summer and the winter, and the creatures are stylized but still precise enough to be recognizable. A thorough nonfiction section after the story showcases how different animals utilize winter dormancy to withstand the harshness of the cold.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Scientific exploration unspools inside a story that begins with a boy's summer visit to his Granny Sylvie, who "knows lots of things." Depicted as active, aged, and round-bodied, with a lighter skin tone than her grandchild, she takes him to a secret glade buzzing with biodiversity. When they repeat their adventure in winter, the "the glade was quiet and bare." The child's complaint that "nothing's alive" is met by Granny Sylvie's wisdom, and as they talk, she describes the different animals and insects sheltering through the winter months ("the queen bumblebee sleeps in a tiny tunnel"). The first part of the book closes with the boy drifting off to his own winter sleep; a second section offers a more comprehensive explanation of hibernation and the specific behaviors of various animals. Chiu's richly layered illustrations move from sunlit greens to frosty blues, cleverly using perspective to convey the boy's curiosity alongside depictions of creatures and their habitats. Effective and engaging. Ages 5--7. (Sept.)
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