Celebrate the sights, sounds, and smells of the season

After my review of A Parade of Elephants, I was a little nervous about reading Winter is Here. However, I was excited to see that while I am not seeing his classic illustrations there is a story here. Of course, I still think this would be better as a board book then a normal sized picture book but could see myself buying this for a gift.

Laura Dronzek is the reason the classic illustrations of Kevin Henkes are not there as she is the illustrator with a hint of Henkes in the eyes of the characters. They have collaborated before on When Spring Comes and In the Middle of Fall. Now, I am interested in the rest of the books of this seaonal series.

While this is not a story of “Johnny goes out and enjoys the winter” and the telling about the fun things about winter, the narrative flows as a traditional story. We see the things we can do, see and feel. If one is not familiar with snow or winter this is a nice introduction. Or it would be a fun souvenir from your trip to the “snowy area” you just visited.

There are rich colors to the illustrations plus simple and detailed text. This is a sweet story you can sit with your child and enjoy as winter blows outside. Or you could read it in preparation for the winter months.

My favorite part is how they mention that winter can hang on for a long time. Mr. Henkes has experienced a New England winter or two by the sounds of it!