It’s not too often that we wake up to a snowy scene like this, in the Pacific Northwest.  When we do get snow, everything gets put on hold.  The laundry piles up, the dishes go unwashed, the sewing projects are pushed aside, and new recipes get put on the back burner.  It’s time to head out and make some memories.

Talk about snow!  We usually only get a dusting around here, so 7 inches was amazing!

We took Cookie outside to experience her first snow.  She immediately started digging in it.

The see the icicles forming on the side of the house.  It’s not often that we get weather that’s cold enough to produce these things.

As a teacher, I see schema in the making.  Our literacy make-up is the sum of our experiences.  We carry those experiences with us everywhere we go.  We build on that experience, learn from it, write about it, and make connections in our reading.  These snowy day experiences will be filed away in our memory until we need them again.  As we read about a child, dragging a branch through the snow, or a snowball melting and dripping down an arm, or the way a scarf feels wet, warm, and cold all at the same time, we’ll remember our own experiences and connect to the book we’re reading.

There are so many wonderful Winter books out there for kids.  I’ve always had a large fiction collection of Winter books.  This year, I’m trying to add more non-fiction texts to my library.  Here are a few of my favorite books for a winter day.