Let's Learn All About It!

Great books and cool educational resources for all ages.

Let's Learn All About It!

Great books and cool educational resources for all ages.

Snow

Science

Table of Contents

SNOW QUEENS

	There are many available editions of Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Snow Queen,” in which young Kay – with a fragment of the devil’s mirror in his eye – is taken away by the cruel but beautiful Snow Queen to a land of snow and ice, and his faithful friend Gerda takes a perilous journey to rescue him. One wonderful picture-book retelling is Amy Ehrlich’s The Snow Queen (Dutton Juvenile, 2006), with illustrations by Susan Jeffers.
	At Sur la Lune Fairytales, The Annotated Snow Queen has an annotated text of the tale, a gallery of illustrations, a list of alternative interpretations, and more.
	For the complete text of the original Hans Christian Andersen “The Snow Queen” online, see here.
	Anne Ursu’s Breadcrumbs (Walden Pond Press, 2011) is a creative take on Andersen’s Snow Queen, set in Minnesota, where Hazel’s friend Jack is stolen by an evil woman in a sleigh, and Hazel braves the woods, now populated by Andersen fairy-tale characters, to get him back. For ages 8-12.
	In the Disney animated film Frozen (2013), inspired by The Snow Queen, the newly crowned Queen Elsa has powers that inadvertently turn her kingdom into a land of permanent ice and snow. Her sister Anna is determined to break the spell. Anybody who hasn’t, willy-nilly, memorized all the Frozen songs (“Let It Go”) hasn’t been listening. Rated PG.

SUPER SNOWPLOWS

	The Katy of Virginia Lee Burton’s Katy and the Big Snow (Sandpiper, 1974) is an indomitable little snowplow, busily saving the stranded citizens of Geopolis, whose streets have been buried by a blizzard. (This one is also nice for reinforcing early map skills, since the illustrations include wonderful little picture maps of the town, showing Katy’s route through the streets.) For ages 4-8.
	In Snowstorm!, a cooperative board game from Family Pastimes, a winter storm is moving in on Little City but, despite the awful weather, everyone has places to go and errands to run. Players must collaborate to get people to their destinations and return them safely home again, while coping with snow and ice. For up to 12 players, ages 5-8.
	From Hooda Math, Snowstorm is an interactive game in which players direct a snowplow to remove snow from around buried cars in a parking lot. It’s trickier than it sounds.

SPECTACULAR SNOWMEN

	In Alice Schertle’s All You Need for a Snowman (Sandpiper, 2007), a group of kids, pudgy in bright padded jackets, build an enormous snowman. Feature after feature accumulates to the refrain of “That’s all you need for a snowman” – beginning with one fluttering snowflake, then billions of snowflakes, balls of snow, bottle caps, walnuts, a carrot, a scarf, a hat, a broom. For ages 2-6.
	In Raymond Briggs’s lovely wordless picture book The Snowman (Random House Books for Young Readers, 1978), a little boy builds a snowman who that evening comes to life, first exploring the unfamiliar indoors (the stove makes him nervous), then taking the boy on a wonderful tour of the winter world, flying through the snowy night sky. For ages 3 and up.
	In Caralyn Buehner’s rhyming picture book Snowmen at Night (Dial, 2002), a little boy imagines what snowmen do at night: they slide off to the park for snowball fights, skating, snow-angel-making, and sled races. No wonder they look a little disheveled in the morning. For ages 3-8.
	Lois Ehlert’s wonderful collage-illustrated picture book Snowballs (Harcourt Brace, 1995) is packed with creative ideas for making and decorating snow animals and people – and includes a recipe for popcorn-ball snowmen for those who lack enough real live snow. For ages 4-8.
	In Steven Kroll’s The Biggest Snowman Ever (Cartwheel Books, 2005), mouse pals Clayton and Desmond – stars of The Biggest Pumpkin Ever – are back and preparing to compete in the town snowman contest. (Again the winning secret is cooperation.) For ages 4-8.
	Tony Parillo’s picture book Michelangelo’s Surprise (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998) is based on an actual historical incident: in 1494, after a rare snowfall in Florence, Michelangelo was summoned to the Medici palace to create a sculpture out of snow. For ages 4-8.
	Unfortunately no one now knows what Michelangelo’s snow sculpture looked like. Read a brief account about The Greatest Snowman Ever?
	Bob Eckstein’s The History of the Snowman (Gallery Books, 2007) is a catchy and informational account, filled with unusual facts and wonderful period illustrations and photographs. There’s even a gallery of the best in snowman cartoons. For teenagers and adults.
	Snowman Math has instructions for interactive math-based activities for elementary-level students with printable activity and game sheets. Included are counting, skip counting, and pattern-making exercises (with snowmen), a Frosty Estimation Station, snowman graphing ideas, instructions for an addition-fact “Last Snowman Standing” game, and more.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

Tagged children's books about snow, children's books about winter, cooking with snow, names for snow, paper snowflakes, science of snow, snow, snow activities, snow and math, snow arts and crafts, snow experiments, snow globe, snow ice cream, snow lesson plans, snow poems, snow projects and activities, Snow Queen, snow teaching resources, Snowflake Bentley, snowflake fractal, snowflakes, snowmen, snowplows, winter