Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Meschenmoser

Part of the My First Little House Books series, Winter on the Farm, by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Jody Wheeler and Renee Graef, is a beautiful book that takes a look at the winter season on a farm in the mid-1860s. So, what would you like to include in your Winter-themed morning basket or reading lists? How will you learn about the seasons? Winter on the Farm While our library appointment was made a little early before the Christmas 'season' began (our librarian even remarked on the fact that we checked out so many winter and Christmas books before Thanksgiving), putting together a list before the Christmas holidays was very easy and fun for me. I had to use our library's online catalog to search by topic and by age-level to find some books that we could check out and read as we prepare for winter. With our library still only offering curbside pick-up, it was just as challenging to find winter-themed books as it was when I put together a post sharing autumn-themed children's books. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy Don't penguins' actual talents, like deep-sea swimming, compensate for flightlessness? All ages.

flying overhead'-but even true believers must admit that his premise is silly.

The artist limns an appealing penguin-which finally soars when it sees 'a penguin colony.

Meschenmoser's charcoal-gray-on-white sketches (with subtle color details) recall the similarly birdy work of Käthi Bhend, as does this economical paper-over-board book's six-by-six trim size. Near-wordless sequences depict various Icarus schemes like glued-on feathers and a red kite-as-backpack some slapstick moments (such as the bird spinning in the clothes dryer to test 'body stress levels') look like animal cruelty, owing to the naturalism of the pencil illustrations. He says the penguin knew how to fly until 'he met some other birds./ They said, 'Penguins can't fly.'/ And he thought, 'They're right.'/ That's when he crashed.' The man takes the penguin home-one terrific image pictures the bird snoozing in the kitchen sink-and together they do calisthenics with a goal of getting airborne. 'Last winter, I found a penguin,' explains the deadpan storyteller, a bearded adult bundled up for winter and looking down at his knee-high feathered friend. Penguin fanciers may not know what to make of this pep talk, originally published in Germany, which reckons that flightless birds might take to the air if only they had faith in themselves.

Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Meschenmoser