Winter Books for Kids
Here is a list of winter books for kids we enjoy reading again and again in our family. There’s something for every young reader!
One of my favorite things to do as a mom is to rotate our books with the seasons. I think this habit stuck from my days in a classroom where rotating the books, toys, and activity centers with the seasons gave fresh inspiration to the children in their play. The same goes for my home now that I’m a mom.
Many of these are “living” winter-themed books. They’re perfect for a classroom bookshelf, homeschool library rotation, or simply piling on the couch for a cozy winter bedtime story.
These are some of our current favorite winter themed books for kids. Our favorites are fiction picture books with beautiful illustrations and rich storylines. Some are board books for very young readers and some are for older children who have longer attention spans.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. We are always finding new favorites! But I hope you enjoy these books as much as we have.
Winter Books for Kids: Jan Brett Classics
I’m starting off with some of our very favorites from one of our favorite children’s authors, Jan Brett. Jan Brett’s books are fun to read, have memorable characters, and stunning illustrations.
Her skill for capturing winter magic in Nordic colors and style capture my attention and my children’s attention alike. We love studying the illustrations for all the intricate details she adds.
She has many beautiful books, but some of our winter favorites are:
- The Snowy Nap — Hedgie the hedgehog tries to stay awake so he doesn’t miss out on all the snowy fun his friends are having. But when a snowstorm blows in, Lisa brings Hedgie inside the cozy cottage where he can see all the wintry wonders before his long snowy nap.
- The Mitten — A retelling of a Ukrainian folktale of a boy who wants snow white mittens. He drops one in the snow and curious animals find their way inside. It’s also available in an abridged board book version for younger readers.
- The Three Snow Bears — A snowy retelling of the classic Goldilocks and the Three Bears story. We like this version way better than the original tale!
- The Hat — Beloved Hedgie the hedgehog gets himself into an unexpected pickle when he wanders into a stocking that’s flown off the clothesline. Hedgie makes his rounds of the farm trying to get the hat unstuck from his prickles.
- Cozy — Cozy is a musk ox that has lost his way from his herd. Winter comes quickly, bringing animals needing shelter from the cold and Cozy welcomes them under his soft fur until spring.
There are many more winter-themed Jan Brett books but those are some highlights. She also has holiday books and retold Nordic folktales what would fall in the winter category.
Winter Themed Books for Kids: Board Books
These are some of our favorite winter themed board books. These are colorful and durable for young readers.
- Snow Babies — A cute and colorful visit to different polar baby animals.
- Dream Snow — A farmer settles in for a nap and dreams of snow covering his animals. It has fun flaps to lift to reveal the blanketed animals.
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s First Winter — This is one we can read again and again. The simple story shows different winter activities to be done both inside and outside on a chilly snow day.
- A Day in the Snow with The Very Hungry Caterpillar — We also love this one. The colorful tabs are so fun and easy for little hands to grab and turn the pages. The Very Hungry Caterpillar walks through a snowy day of winter scenes.
Many of the other picture books I’ve listed are also available in board book versions I didn’t want to repeat them all here so if you’re wondering if a particular book is available in a board book, it probably is!
Winter Books for Kids
These books are from a variety of authors and illustrators. I’ve found my children prefer colorful, more detailed illustrations versus minimal pictures so these books are rich in visual details.
- Over and Under the Snow — This book follows a child and father cross country skiing through the woods as they observe wildlife living both over and under the snow. This book presents animal facts in a storyline and my toddler loves reading this one over and over.
- The Snowy Day — This colorful tale details a young boy named Peter’s day in the first snowfall of winter. It’s a beloved classic for a reason, by our family and thousands of others.
- Winter on the Farm — This is a Little House Picture Book is adapted from the Little House series. It introduces Almanzo, a young farmer boy on his family’s farm in an upstate New York winter.
- Winter Days in the Big Woods — Another Little House Picture book, this story details a young Laura Ingalls and her family’s winter days in their cozy log house in the big woods of Wisconsin.
- Shh! Bears Sleeping — This books tells the tale of a mother bear and her cubs waking up in spring and preparing for another winter. It’s told in short, poignant poetry that is easy to read and paints a beautiful picture of the hibernation and wake cycle of bears. And what the rest of the woods is like when bears are sleeping.
- A Snow Day for Amos McGee — We absolutely love A Sick Day for Amos McGee and this book is the perfect winter follow up. Amos is a faithful zookeeper who cares for his friends the animals. Everyone is waiting with anticipation for the first snow to arrive. And when it does, Amos and his friend have a memorable snow day!
- Winter Story (Brambly Hedge) — I saved my favorite for last. I adore this book. The story is bright and captivating. The illustrations are so cozy and detailed you can almost hear the crackling fire and smell the roasting apples. In the story the mice of Brambly Hedge wake one morning to a snow that hasn’t been seen for ages. A ‘Snow Ball’ is called and the mice make hurried preparations for the festivities. I love how enchanting it makes the ordinary and it reminds me to find the whimsy in winter days.
Why read winter books?
Can I be honest? Much of the conversation around winter is negative. I get it. The darkness, the cold, the slush.
Where we live the days are shorter and often darker. Layering up snow pants and hats and mittens and boots to head out into the frozen tundra is not for the faint of heart.
But winter time is also a uniquely beautiful time of year. There are so many fun things to do and see both inside and outside that are unique to winter.
I think reading winter stories and reading books about the special delights of winter is important. It helps shape a positive attitude and outlook on wintertime. We can either have the “we have to endure this season” mindset about winter. Or the “we get to enjoy this season” mindset. I, for one, want to make the most of it.
Embrace the beauty of winter
The reality is winter comes and again and again. We could begrudgingly trudge our way through the doldrums of winter every year. Or we can embrace the season for what it is. A season full of unique experiences available to us if we only open our eyes and embrace the challenge.
Again, I want to make the most of it. Not only for myself but also for my children.
Joy and beauty don’t just flourish on a balmy 70 degree day of ideal circumstances. Happiness doesn’t hinge on sunshine. Reading beautiful books about winter reminds us that there’s beauty in the frosted windows, the tracks in the snow, and the cozy rituals of togetherness and warmth.
Books are an important part of that. I hope your family enjoys these books as much as we do.
Remember, you can always dust off your library card and borrow these from your local library. Enjoy!
And believe me, I get the challenge of embracing winter. In fact we aim to be outside for 1,000 hours minimum every year. You can read how we did the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge in less than a year or get my yearly breakdown schedule here.
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This is such a great book list! Totally grabbing a few for our granddaughters!
A Snowy Day and Winter on the Farm are two of my kids’s favorites. We will definitely need to check out more on your list because they seem to be right up our alley!
I’m always looking for good children’s book recommendations as gifts for my sisters grandkids. What a great list! Thanks
I love Snowy Day and The Hat. I can’t wait to add more of these suggestions to our library.
Love this book list and am sharing this! Such a great selection. There are several that I’ve had for my own kids eons ago, and some that I haven’t heard about, they all sound wholesome and enriching. Thanks so much for sharing these. Saving this for a resource!
These are such great, classic books! Thanks for sharing this list, my kids are gonna love reading these this winter 🙂
I love the hungry caterpillar books! I bet my daughter would like these recommendations, I’ll have to get some for her to enjoy this winter. Thanks for this resource!
thank you for the inspiration to do this again! I used to be better at seasonal books with our kids. looking forward to looking into some of these titles!
So many great choices!