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Recess at 20 Below
How cold does it have to be before Alaskan kids stay inside for recess? For many schools, if it is colder than 20 below zero, they stay indoors; otherwise, it's outside for frosty fun! This is is a photo book with text written from a child's perspective on what kids to during recess at 20 below. We see kids getting ready for recess putting on layers of outdoor clothing, and then somebody has to go to the bathroom! Going sledding, swinging, running around outside with frosted-up eyelashes and face masks. Then the static hair after a hat's been pulled off, red cheeks and noses, etc. Young readers will delight in images of peers frolicking in the cold and during their favorite time of the school day!
36 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2005
83 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
December 9, 2019
I love reading about life in other countries, not via travel books, but books actually giving us a proper insight into what it is like to live in another country. This is a children's book that does just that. It tells us what it's like to be an Alaskan child in winter, playing in the school playground.
In Alaska winter is serious, and the kids are impressively robust. They go out and play at recess at temperatures right down to -20 Fahrenheit. They go out at lunchtime, because in mid-winter there is only three hours of daylight.
The book is illustrated with photographs taken by the author, journalistic photos of happy kids, showing us exactly what is being described in the text. I found it nicely interesting. A fun look at how children experience life in what feels like another world.
This book is available at Open Library...
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL81773...
With thanks to Caroline and Lisa Vegan for suggesting it.
In Alaska winter is serious, and the kids are impressively robust. They go out and play at recess at temperatures right down to -20 Fahrenheit. They go out at lunchtime, because in mid-winter there is only three hours of daylight.
"Playing hard means breathing hard. The moisture from our breath floats up to our faces and makes our eyelashes freeze! They feel so thick and heavy, it's hard to keep them open."
The book is illustrated with photographs taken by the author, journalistic photos of happy kids, showing us exactly what is being described in the text. I found it nicely interesting. A fun look at how children experience life in what feels like another world.
This book is available at Open Library...
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL81773...
With thanks to Caroline and Lisa Vegan for suggesting it.
February 5, 2017
Though it was a long time ago (okay - a long, long, long time ago), I still remember despising indoor recess. My young mind and body needed that escape from the classroom, those precious moments of fresh air and freedom.
In Alaska kids go outside for recess, even when it's 20 degrees below zero. It takes them a long time to bundle up, and it helps to remember what color coats and jackets your friends are wearing, 'cause when you get outside, all you can see are their eyes.
And, imagine - building snow forts and going sledding at school! How awesome is that?
This is great fun! I loved all the photos - particularly the one of the massive mountain of outdoor wear piled in the cloak room, and the photos of the kids with their frost-covered eyelashes.
In Alaska kids go outside for recess, even when it's 20 degrees below zero. It takes them a long time to bundle up, and it helps to remember what color coats and jackets your friends are wearing, 'cause when you get outside, all you can see are their eyes.
And, imagine - building snow forts and going sledding at school! How awesome is that?
This is great fun! I loved all the photos - particularly the one of the massive mountain of outdoor wear piled in the cloak room, and the photos of the kids with their frost-covered eyelashes.
May 20, 2017
***NO SPOILERS***
Do non-Alaskans ever give much thought to what it’s like for Alaskan children during winter recess? In just a few pages, this book offers a surprisingly interesting peek--for children and adults alike. Featuring photos of Alaskan children on their snowy playground, it brings their unique experience to cheery life. Recess in winter is clearly much more fun in Alaska than in any other state.
I like how this book puts into perspective how vastly different Alaska is from the rest of the U.S. Heavy snow rarely closes their schools, and if Alaskan children don’t brave the cold each day, they’ll almost never get to go outside for recess.
As someone who didn’t experience a recess anything close to this, I was fascinated by this book and read it more than once. The large, vivid photographs also complement the text beautifully while providing a nice bit of armchair travel. This is one of the better children’s books out there.
Age-range: This book isn’t too text-heavy and probably will interest children starting at age 5.
Do non-Alaskans ever give much thought to what it’s like for Alaskan children during winter recess? In just a few pages, this book offers a surprisingly interesting peek--for children and adults alike. Featuring photos of Alaskan children on their snowy playground, it brings their unique experience to cheery life. Recess in winter is clearly much more fun in Alaska than in any other state.
I like how this book puts into perspective how vastly different Alaska is from the rest of the U.S. Heavy snow rarely closes their schools, and if Alaskan children don’t brave the cold each day, they’ll almost never get to go outside for recess.
As someone who didn’t experience a recess anything close to this, I was fascinated by this book and read it more than once. The large, vivid photographs also complement the text beautifully while providing a nice bit of armchair travel. This is one of the better children’s books out there.
Age-range: This book isn’t too text-heavy and probably will interest children starting at age 5.
December 7, 2019
I’d wanted to read this but my library didn’t have it. A friend’s mention of it today reminded me of it and I finally checked Open Library and they did have it. Read on Open Library.
Highly recommended for young school children and others who enjoy seeing how other children live. For children not used to snow all winter or extreme cold and especially if they’re not used to darkness 21 hours a day, and light 21 hours a day in the summer, this is an eye opener. Looking at all the photos and listening to the kids’ words is captivating.
This account is given by real children and there are photos of them doing what they describe: getting in and out of heavy winter clothing, playing in various ways at recess, which they say they always have at noon because that’s when the sun is the highest in the sky, though it’s still not very light. These kids go to school and come home from school in the dark in the winter time. They go out to recess if the temperature doesn’t fall below 20 below zero. If it does get colder, they stay in, and one example is shown where they had to stay inside one day due to wildlife on the premises.
I would have even more time with the darkness than I would with the snow or the cold. These children seem to take it in stride.
This is a fascinating peek into how children live. The author teaches elementary physical education in Delta Junction Alaska and I’m assuming these are some of her students.
Highly recommended for young school children and others who enjoy seeing how other children live. For children not used to snow all winter or extreme cold and especially if they’re not used to darkness 21 hours a day, and light 21 hours a day in the summer, this is an eye opener. Looking at all the photos and listening to the kids’ words is captivating.
This account is given by real children and there are photos of them doing what they describe: getting in and out of heavy winter clothing, playing in various ways at recess, which they say they always have at noon because that’s when the sun is the highest in the sky, though it’s still not very light. These kids go to school and come home from school in the dark in the winter time. They go out to recess if the temperature doesn’t fall below 20 below zero. If it does get colder, they stay in, and one example is shown where they had to stay inside one day due to wildlife on the premises.
I would have even more time with the darkness than I would with the snow or the cold. These children seem to take it in stride.
This is a fascinating peek into how children live. The author teaches elementary physical education in Delta Junction Alaska and I’m assuming these are some of her students.
December 16, 2019
An amazing look at winter in Alaska through the eyes of school children. Their eyelashes freeze, they have so many layers on they can hardly move and as only eyes are visible it helps to remember what colours your friends are wearing! This was a really interesting look at life in such a different part of the world. It looked amazingly fun, I liked the look of the games they were playing but it also looked like a hard life once the novelty of that much snow has worn off. The darkness would get to me, 3 hours of dusky daylight!
This was a wonderful book but I was left wanting to see what these children did in summer. If I had seen that contrast at the end of the book, even just a page or two would have made this 5 star read.
A very enjoyable book suitable for any age. Read on open library.
This was a wonderful book but I was left wanting to see what these children did in summer. If I had seen that contrast at the end of the book, even just a page or two would have made this 5 star read.
A very enjoyable book suitable for any age. Read on open library.
April 2, 2008
Cindy Aillaud is multi talented: award winning physical education teacher in Delta Junction, Alaska... incredible photographer... and now a brilliant author. She combines the best of her photos of kids at play in winter, with perfect descriptions of everything from getting dressed for winter to tasting snowflakes as they fall. You'll be transported to a simpler (and cooler) time as soon as you begin reading. The photos of real kids playing outside is an inspiration to couch potatoes everywhere... like Cindy says "get dressed and go outside and play!". If we can do it at 20 below zero, you can do it where you are, too! A MUST read.
February 20, 2014
After reading this book, I had to read it to my first graders. They loved it! The books describes what recess is like for children in Alaska and how they have recess outdoors even if it is 20 below zero. The photographs and story describe a school day for children in Alaska, beginning with their morning walk to the bus stop, the process of bundling up for recess every day and the activities they do at recess. It also describes the challenges of living with a variety of wildlife in the Alaska, stating that they had to stay inside for recess one day because a wild moose had entered the playground and was eating bushes on the fence. The author also includes photographs of the students eyelashes and hair and how it freezes during outdoor recess. I really like the story structure and how it adds elements of humor and interest, such as the use of onomatopoeia. My kids beg to hear this story almost daily and I overhear them telling each other on the playground, "You think it's cold here! You should try having recess in Alaska at 20 below zero." Then they go into details about the challenges of living in Alaska. This is a wonderful book which I plan on using every year with my class!
January 8, 2014
Apparently, we are all softies in Ohio. Our thermometers plunge below zero, we cancel school. In Alaska, kids not only have school, but they still have recess (unless the temperature drops below -20. Gotta draw the line somewhere). My daughter, who received this book from grandparents who recently visited Alaska, was especially interested in the pictures of children whose hair, eyebrows and eyelashes had turned gray from moisture freezing on their faces. "They are still smiling!" she observed (I can say with confidence that anytime I went outside this past week, I was not smiling). I do wish the author would have talked more about why they only had three hours of sunlight, but since I was able to provide that explanation for my daughter, it was no biggie. Paired the book with this video of a little girl preparing for school in Alaska. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdqFuI...
Overall, it gave us both an appreciation of what life must be like Up North. Now, back to planning a trip to Florida...
Overall, it gave us both an appreciation of what life must be like Up North. Now, back to planning a trip to Florida...
November 19, 2019
For most of the country, the thought of Recess at 20 Below chills us to the bone. As a SoCal kid, I never would have considered frozen eyelashes a regular recess occurrence. In Alaska, however, this is the winter norm. The first-person narrator and accompanying photographs allow children to experience the suiting up, sledding, and dark commutes almost first hand. The author, Cindy Lou Aillaud, is a teacher in Alaska and provides an authentic resource for readers to experience the largest and northernmost state. This book even includes a Q&A in the back, with questions sent in from children elsewhere in the country.
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
January 21, 2010
I frequently buy or recommend this book for others, as a look into what it is like to live and play in a cold climate. It takes a wonderful kid's eye view of getting ready for recess when it is really cold.
March 26, 2013
Easy to read aloud and then ask the question, "How does the experience of these children contrast with ours?" This gets at the CCSS of contrasting concepts/ideas across texts - this text and the text of our lives.
August 13, 2018
The temperature outside is 20 below zero. Is school cancelled? Nope. How about recess outside? No way! Learn from the kid's point of view about what it is like playing during recess when it is really cold, how it sounds outside, how it tastes outside, how it looks, and even how it smells when the thermometer says it's 20 below. What happens when you put on layer after layer of clothing to avoid frostbite and then hit the playground? Did you see the tiny ice crystals in the air and hear your boots make a loud crunch, crunch, crunch sound when you walked? Pictures and words in 32 pages make have made this book popular all over North America because all the kids want to know what happens at 20 below zero
I can't wait to read this to my kiddos - they have no idea of what cold means!
I can't wait to read this to my kiddos - they have no idea of what cold means!
February 1, 2019
I got an ARC of this book at ALA Midwinter 2019 and was anxious to read it because I, too, have taught school in Alaska, though a little further north. Many in the lower 48 would find it unbelievable that recess is held at -20 degrees, but that was certainly my experience. The author beautifully captures the sounds, and the feeling of cold, cold, cold. Both the dressing and undressing for recess are a big part of the school day, and the activities on the playground, as well as the occasional wildlife, can be amusing and imaginative. Crisp color photographs fill the pages. This is a fun book and would be useful for teaching about communities and schools in other places. It brought back memories.
January 6, 2018
I love this book, loved it the first time I read it. It reminds me of how our recesses as children at Casstown Elementary were outside, rough and tumble, jumping out of the swings, making snow angels, climbing the death defying Jungle Gym and hanging off the merry-go-round of death that built character, gave scabs and scars and made your stomach twirl. Kids need to be outside, in fresh air and sunshine, if only for 10 - 20 minutes in duration. We all need to blow the stink off of us and watch the kids enjoy it, whether they like it or not. Damn the electric fence and damn the games that deter the fun of children.
Read
January 30, 2020Borrowed this from the public library when students were complaining that it's too cold to go out for recess. Might it be because they come to school in shorts and/ or no jacket, hat or gloves? Everyone needs time out of doors in the fresh air and if you move when you're outside, you warm up. Eye roll. Mad props to these kids in Alaska.
November 4, 2025
Was hoping for a bit more about the prep to go out for recess and the impact on the school day, but recess itself was described very well and makes for an interesting read for one unacquainted with such cold temperatures.
December 6, 2019
This is book is about a group of kids that go to school where it get 20 degree below and how they go out on days that it's that cold.
December 15, 2023
Nope too cold for me!!!!
December 12, 2025
Monarch 2010
This is a cute and fun read. I learned a lot!
This is a cute and fun read. I learned a lot!
September 19, 2020
To go with my weather unit I would read the book Recess at 20 Below. This is an awesome informational text about children who go to recess in Alaska. There are several different activities and lessons that could be incorporated throughout this text.
October 8, 2009
You may think it’s cold in the winter in Chicago, but you haven’t been to Delta Junction, Alaska. Recess at 20 Below is a nonfiction picture book written from a student’s perspective of what recess is like at their school. The book begins by discussing the preparations for going out into the cold. Then it describes different activities students participate in outside such as sledding, making snow forts, snowball fights, and playing soccer and football. But if the temperature drops below negative 20 degrees it is too dangerous to go outside. The book has lots of great photographs and is very informational.
I think this would be a terrific book to use in the classroom for elementary aged students. Teachers could use this book for a variety of lessons as well as cross-curricular activities. The text features lots of figurative language such as onomatopoeia (“Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!”), similes (“The snow on the ground sparkles like diamonds”), and metaphors (“Megan, who is dressed all in purple looks like a jar of grape jelly”).
I think this would be a terrific book to use in the classroom for elementary aged students. Teachers could use this book for a variety of lessons as well as cross-curricular activities. The text features lots of figurative language such as onomatopoeia (“Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!”), similes (“The snow on the ground sparkles like diamonds”), and metaphors (“Megan, who is dressed all in purple looks like a jar of grape jelly”).
March 19, 2011
You know how you're complaining it's cold? Stop. In Alaska they go out when it's 20 below zero.
Pretty great. Informative, but more useful as a NF story than a research book. Kids liked it and so did I. It's simply something I had never considered before.
The photographs are a huge selling point. Seeing the slide in line with the snow was great. Frozen eyelashes and hair are things kids understand and get after they see them. I just wish they had included some 4th & 5th graders in the photographs. While aimed at 2nd grade, the book has carryover. You can have interesting conversations (what's recess like in other countries, hot areas, etc) and the book could easily be used as a prompt or comparison book.
Pretty great. Informative, but more useful as a NF story than a research book. Kids liked it and so did I. It's simply something I had never considered before.
The photographs are a huge selling point. Seeing the slide in line with the snow was great. Frozen eyelashes and hair are things kids understand and get after they see them. I just wish they had included some 4th & 5th graders in the photographs. While aimed at 2nd grade, the book has carryover. You can have interesting conversations (what's recess like in other countries, hot areas, etc) and the book could easily be used as a prompt or comparison book.
February 9, 2017
My students loved this book! Excellent for comparing and contrasting!
March 4, 2019
Originally released in 2005, this description of going to school in Alaska may already be on your shelves. The author, the 2004 Disney Teacher of the Year, has updated the book with answers to some of the questions kids generally ask. This new edition with a fresh design and the author Q&A was just released January 29, 2019.
If you know kids who complain about having to go to school in the snow, whether they are you own children or your students, read this with them and then see if they change their minds. Just imagine sledding at recess, or digging snow tunnels to play in. (We won't even talk about going to school and coming home in the dark because of those short winter days up north.)
If you know kids who complain about having to go to school in the snow, whether they are you own children or your students, read this with them and then see if they change their minds. Just imagine sledding at recess, or digging snow tunnels to play in. (We won't even talk about going to school and coming home in the dark because of those short winter days up north.)
November 8, 2009
What a cool topic for a kids book! How many people stop and think what recess might be like somewhere other than where they are? This book shows, from a student's perspective, how they have recess in Alaska with temperatures that drop down to 20 below zero and snow that is so dry that children can't make snowballs. This book would be great to use with 1st through 3rd grade children. Perhaps used in a writer's workshop introduction to expository writing, or in reading to work with compare and contrast.
November 6, 2013
A very enlightening book about winters, schools, and recess in Alaska, where the season lasts far longer than we can imagine. Recess at 20 Below follows one class as they 'suit-up' for recess in an Alaskan winter. The winters are so dry snowballs are hard to form, but they find ways to have fun with the conditions anyway.
May 25, 2014
This book was very will written, with many fun facts and engaging pictures for students. We all learned something new about how children do things the same and different around the world. I loved the picture of the swings sitting on top of the snow because it had piled up so high. Sleds at recess...it's like a snow day everyday.
December 30, 2015
Told from a kid’s point of view, this book explains what it sounds like, looks like, feels like, and even smells like to have recess at 20 below. Getting ready for recess takes on a whole new meaning. Clear photos and soft pastels imprinted with snowflakes accompany the straightforward text making this a student favorite, even here in Alaska.
February 4, 2012
I read this book this week to my students. A very different way to look at recess. This was good for my students to see in other places they have to do things differently. My students really loved the pictures of the actual kids and how they play in that cold of weather.
January 11, 2015
I can't wait to share this with my students who think temperatures in the 30s and 40s are "so cold". There are many details that will amaze them in this picture book about a very topic dear to their hearts.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews