Snowy days call for snowy pages

Call us prophetic, but we planned a snow column long before the fluffy white flakes cleared our packed calendar for midnight sledding and snowball fights. Use your holiday gift cards for books to read in front of the fire while defrosting.

By the way, happy 20th anniversary to Jan Brett's The Mitten (Penguin, Ages 3-5, $17.99), one of our best-loved wintry books.

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW! By Lee Harper. Simon & Schuster. Ages4-8. $14.99.

Sound familiar? This book opens with "One night, the wind howled, and the snow fell all night long. The next morning ... surprise!" The snow creates the "best sledding hill ever" -- something we have in the pasture adjacent to our neighborhood. The boys and their father in this book spend their snow day sledding and soaring, an activity that makes snow worth savoring.

TESTING THE ICE: A True Story about Jackie Robinson. By Sharon Robinson. Scholastic. Ages 7-10. $16.99.

Sharon Robinson's anecdote of her father's bravery sheds new light on Jackie Robinson, the first black American to play in Major League baseball. She fondly describes her childhood home by a lake in Connecticut. The children loved the pastoral setting; Jackie Robinson loved it for the privacy it afforded him. Sharon Robinson recalls the summers spent swimming with her father watching but never jumping into the water himself. She remembers wanting to ice skate on the lake, and her father testing the ice to ensure its safety. Sharon Robinson realized that her father could not swim, yet tested the ice out of love for her and her brothers. Such was his courage with baseball, she says. He stepped out bravely to forge a path for other blacks who wanted to play baseball. Kadir Nelson's realistic illustrations give an empowering story even more credibility and influence.

THE STORY OF SNOW: The Science of Winter's Wonder. By Mark Cassino with Jon Nelson. Chronicle. Ages 7-10. $16.99.

Budding scientists should enjoy this in-depth study of snow crystals. For example, six is considered the "magic number" for snow crystals. Mark Cassino and Jon Nelson explain that water molecules attach themselves in groups of six, typically resulting in six-sided, symmetrical snow crystals. Also, snow crystals can grow only within their cloud of origin while surrounded by water vapor and immediately begin to "wither" as they leave the cloud. The photography of actual snowflakes, or crystals, is stunning.

SHIVER. By Maggie Stiefvater. Scholastic. Ages 14 and up. $17.99.

We do not agree on this book, so we will give you both viewpoints. Shiver begins with Grace's surreal experience of being mauled by wolves as a young girl. She survives. Rather than becoming paranoid about wolves, she develops an obsession with them. One of the wolves saved her, and his eyes have haunted her for years. When a classmate in her senior class is attacked by wolves, Grace finds herself scrutinized by his sister for surviving a wolf attack. At the same time "her" wolf (Sam) re-enters her life ... in human form.

Hannah: This book had too many Twilight elements. Sam had golden eyes. Edward (Twilight by Stephenie Meyer) had golden eyes. Edward would sleep in Bella's bed every night, and her dad would never notice. Sam would sleep in Grace's bed every night, and her parents didn't know.

Monica: I agree that we have had an overdose of werewolf/vampire books since Twilight first attracted attention -- to the point that we barely give the imitators a second glance. However, I'm glad I paid attention to Shiver. I found the story engaging, and the parallels to Twilight didn't distract me.

Hannah: There were just too many similarities, like how the temperature had to be warm for the werewolves to remain in human form. Also, the way they healed so quickly was reminiscent of Twilight.

Monica: But in this book, Grace has a close tie to the werewolves from what happened to her as a child. I like the way each chapter is titled with the temperature. You know that means something, and it hooks you into reading to find out what.

Hannah: It was really well written, but it was also so dramatic -- especially at the end (but I won't give that away).

Monica: I found it thrilling, despite the way we've been Twilighted ad nauseam. I thought Shiver provided a good escape into the fantasy/werewolf genre.
cyoung9@triad.rr.com


View book reviews at the Journal in Education site at www.jie.journalnow.com