Counting Winter by Nancy White Carlstrom

Counting Winter is a clever picture book that manages to mix counting, nature study, and poetry into one irresistible wintry package.

Counting Winter by Nancy White Carlstrom, illustrated by Claudia McGhee. Eerdmans, 2024. 44 pages.

• Reading Level: Picture books, ages 4-8
• Recommended For: Ages 4-8

One red fox walks

across the white snow

quietly

stalking winter.

And our story begins, quietly with one animal. Page after page, we not only add animals (two ravens, three snowshoe hares), we add activity. A fox stalks winter. Other animals talk, feed, or track winter. The poetry is subtle, but, frankly, it’s ingenious. The last spread of 12 children adds an entirely new dimension in both activity and word choice, but I won’t spoil it for you!

Counting Winter is part counting book, part nature study of the great white North. Many of the animals depicted only live in Alaska or the northern mountainous regions of the U.S. and Canada. This book will feel like home to children in those climes and offer interesting new animals to think about for children in more temperate climates. Illustrations are scratchboard and watercolor, looking much like woodcuts in feel. They are a terrific match for the deceptively simple text as both art and text are more challenging to produce than you might expect. Back matter offers facts about each animal included and end papers are lively as well. All in all, this is an outstanding example of a nonfiction picture book that simultaneously works as a bedtime book or quiet afternoon story time choice.

Bottom Line: Counting Winter is an excellent addition to a winter story time lineup or as a counting book for young children.

Recommended Reading at Redeemed Reader

• Resource: More fun Animal Stories for young children
• Book Review: The Most Beautiful Winter is a perfect companion read.
• Book Review: Superlative Birds is for slightly older children, but offers a similar mix of poetry and nonfiction/fact in a very fun compilation.

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