Animals in Winter

Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1

by Henrietta Bancroft, Richard G. Van Gelder, Helen K. Davie (Illustrator)

Read and find out about how animals cope with winter in this colorfully illustrated nonfiction picture book. This is a clear and appealing book for early elementary age kids, both at home and in the classroom. Introduce kids to basic science ideas as part of discussions about the seasons and animals. Have you ever seen a butterfly in the snow? Probably not. Butterflies can't survive cold weather, so when winter comes, many butterflies fly to warmer places. They migrate. Woodchucks don't like cold weather either, but they don't migrate; they hibernate. Woodchucks sleep in their dens all winter long. How do these and other animals handle the cold and snow of winter? Read and find out in the proven winner Animals in Winter ! This is a Level 1 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores introductory concepts perfect for children in the primary grades. The 100+ titles in this leading nonfiction series are: Top 10 reasons to love LRFOs: Books in this series support the Common Core Learning Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) standards. Let's-Read-and-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Science, Nonfiction, Childrens, Nature, Education

32 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1963

Reviews

[Lorellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and beautifully illustrated.

[Mariah Roze · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good, simple book that explained what happens to animals during the science months.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this series for the younger crowd. Particularly the vintage editions - the illustrations are so much better, in detail and art style.

This title goes through a general scope of various animals prepping for the winter and their habits. The info is just enough to not be overwhelming, and to stick with a 3 year old.

A win for early science!

Ages: 3 - 6

Content Considerations: nothing to note.

[SaraKat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great picture book of different adaptations that are used by various animals to survive the winter. I am going to get my school librarian to gather up a bunch of copies from the elementary schools in my district to let my middle schoolers read it for a fun engagement. It covers education standards on migration and hibernation well and then adds in other ways that animals survive. The art is lovely.

[Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do an Animals in Winter unit with my students based around this book. It's a perfect way to start the unit and start my students off being interested in what the animals around us are doing all winter long.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good illustrations and information. Fun way to learn something new.

[Tulasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is filled with a beautiful picture of animals and things that animals do during winter.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's challenging to find good nonfiction books for young kids. This is one of them. Each page spread explains how one animal is adapted to survive winter.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very solid maybe, i liked everything about it, but i didn't LOVE it. i especially liked the information at the end about how to feed animals throughout the winter - could pair well with an activity like making birdseed ornaments.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

What beautiful illustrations!. The story starts in autumn and discusses migration and traveling south for warmer weather. Then it transitions into staying in the cold north for the winter, but hibernating. I love the illustration of a woodchuck's burrow. That was new information for me. Lastly, they talk about the animals that stay through the cold winter and how they prepare to survive when they must eat daily and move outside in the cold. Finally, there are suggestions of ways that you can help the animals that stay in your area over the winter.
Great cover! Wonderful artwork! and good information.

[Jordyn Kilmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: informational grade: 2-5
This book is a great way to teach kids about animals because it explain something that most kids wonder about but don’t really know the answer to. I know when I was a kid I never understood exactly what animals do during the winter and I always feel bad that they were stuck outside. This book does a great job of explaining that in a fun way that kids can’t understand and the illustrations really add to the book and make it even more fun for kids. This is a great book!

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very cute and one i would want to read to my students to get them more into science! It talks about what a lot of animals do in the winter, like what they eat and where they go for the time being to stay warm. The pictures are also very cute and i think the children would like to look at all of the animals. I think this would especially be good to read in the winter, so that the children can almost relate to the cold that the animals experience. I think it would be good for 1st to 2nd grade and a book the students would be very interested in.

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

During the winter some animals migrate,some hibernate, and some must continue to search for food through the snow and the cold. In this book for young readers, children will learn about how many animals survive the winter. I really enjoyed the illustrations and felt the level of detail included was just right. I also liked the suggestions for helping animals through the winter which was included at the end of the book.

[Kaila Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is good to use to introduce the season of winter to students. It describes different characteristics of winter, and also discusses how different animals live in winter differently. Some animals hibernate, some move south, some gather food for the winter, etc. This would also be a good book to do a mini lesson with students.

[Allison Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early Primary

Informational Nonfiction

I appreciate that this book is engaging and entertaining while still being informational. Sometimes it's hard to find that in a book, but this one delivered! I also liked all the cute little reminders to be careful with feeding them or getting too close, but that they depend on you sometimes too. A sweet book for young readers :)

[Lisa Nagel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative and simply presented facts in what animals do in winter. Some hibernate, some store food, some need to find food. I also liked suggestions about how to support animals in the winter by planting certain plants in your yard and that if you want to feed animals to remember that they come to depend on you providing that food.

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little non-fiction story about animal habits in the winter.

The pictures are nice and the animals are cute. The story is straight forward and not really a real voice about something different.

There are foxes in this story. I don't have a lot to say about it really.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good non-fiction book about different things animals do to survive the winter months.

[Emily Carlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good non-fiction worth reading to prek and older. Has facts in the end on how to help animals in winter.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

General facts about different animals in winter. Really nice black and white illustrations with pops of color.

[Allyson Goose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to understand. I learned a lot. My 3YO and 6YO likes it, too!

[Emily Smithberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Informational Nonfiction
Grade Range: Early Primary (K-1)
I thought that this was a very fun book. I liked that it explained which kind of animals hibernate and which don't. The illustrations were also very helpful in understanding what the homes look like that the animals live in.

[Sylvie Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great choice for winter theme units: preK-1st Grade.

[Anna Sangrey Roussel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet book at the intersection of wildlife and picture book for children. Duel-spreads of animal life in winter time.

[Linda Long]

Lovely, vintage illustrations with a simple story about what different animals do in the winter, where they go and about hibernation.

[Josephina · Rating 3 out of 5]

EDUCATIONAL!!! ... .. AND FOR ME EDUCATIONAL IS FUN!!!

[Jessica Wilker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Informational Nonfiction
Reading Level: K-2

I loved the pictures in this book!! They were wonderful and kept me entertained. I think this book is a great read for kids to inform them on what happens to animals in the winter. Most common questions that a kid may have on winter animals can be answered in this book. So with the content and the beautifully illustrated pictures, this is a wonderful book and an even better book for kids.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a well-written and informative book, and the illustrations are beautiful. The reader learns about how some animals cope in winter - some that travel to warmer climates, some that hibernate, some that store food in preparation, and those that hunt for food all winter long.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some things never change and although this book was copyrighted in 1963, it is still a terrific book. I love the black, white and brown pictures that are inside this book describing animals in winter. The book starts off talking about what happens during fall: the leaves fall, grass is dead, insects are gone and now the animals/birds have to get ready for winter or what they do during the cold winter months. The rest of the book goes into detail about how they go about doing that. It talks about what birds do, what butterflies do, and even bats. Woodchucks or perhaps you know them as groundhogs or marmots are discussed in detail with great pictures of them gathering and sleeping underground. A pika is like a chipmunk and the author discusses what they do to get ready for the winter next. I had no idea these animals were such planners. We can't forget squirrels and mice, deers and rabbit and to round out the book we have the foxes. The author includes information on how some of the animals prepare for the winter and how they survive during the winter including what they eat, how they hunt and where they sleep. Great book and full of information for the little ones.

I have the original book that was written in 1963. There is a new version of this book and the words are the same but the pictures are totally different.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is for the original 1963 edition. The version currently available for sale has a completely revised text and new illustrations by a different artist. I haven't seen the new edition but honestly can see why this was changed as it doesn't do anything for me. The text is quite boring, simply telling what different forest animals do in the winter. Each page moving onto another animal. The illustration is quite ugly done in two colours brown and black. The animals are sketched in pencil/ink and are very detailed and life-like but then the backgrounds done probably in charcoal or chalk are very scribbly and plain; the cover illustration is not representative at all! So when all is said in done the only thing I liked was the animal sketches so I won't be keeping this one for my collection. There is that rare occassion when an update can't do worse than the original.