![]() Funny enough, many years later Matthiessen wrote a fantastic book about cranes called, Birds of Heaven. The couple’s roommate was the handsome young man who drew the drawing for me as we talked about The Snow Leopard and folded cranes. She taught me how to fold them, and I helped her fold many cranes over the few evenings I stayed there. The young woman in the couple was engaged in a crane folding project–she was Japanese, and in the tradition of the culture, was folding 1,000 gold cranes for her wedding. I met a young couple and they surprisingly and kindly offered to let me sleep on a futon in their living room three buildings down from mine. I called 9-1-1 and grabbed my purse, the book, my great grandmother’s antique Holy Family picture in its oval frame with bubble glass and a goosedown comforter I had just spent most of my meager pay check on and descended the stairs to the street.Įveryone in the neighborhood was on the street, watching the fire and the fire fighters. I looked down the light well and saw flames reaching up to the second story. I was living on McAllister Street in San Francisco, making a spinach salad in the kitchen of my third story apartment when I heard the sound of breaking glass. It was drawn by a young man I met during my second reading of the book in January 1992. The drawing above is what I keep in the book for a book mark. Author Peter Matthiessen’s melancholy account of his trek through the Himalaya with his leaky tent and snow-sodden sneakers only makes me feel colder, and also unadventurous and guilty. I love the book The Snow Leopard, but I wish I’d chosen a book about the Tropics. I have a buffalo hide on my bed that makes me feel like a pioneer and I snuggle under it to read the winter away. Interested in some other snow literacy ideas? Head to my snow Pinterest page.The winter solstice is still ahead of me but it has been freezing and I am dreading the next four months of short, cold days and long, cold nights. You could also give your snowman a name and create a character description of him followed up by an oral or written story about him. ![]() One idea (pictured below) would be to use it for a labeling activity. There are so many literacy things that you could do with your snowman if you decided not to use it for a bookmark. My picture doesn’t show the bookmark laminated, but I highly suggest doing so for durability purposes. ![]() Glue the pieces onto the paint strip sample. Simply cut a hat, eyes, nose, mouth, scarf and buttons from a magazine. Here are the materials you need for one snowman bookmark: one white paint strip sample, an old magazine, pair of scissors and a glue stick. I love this activity because the bookmark is made with recycled materials. To keep your place in all of your new snow books, you will need a snowman bookmark. The beautiful woodcut illustrations help to tell the story of the first scientist who captured pictures of snowflakes which led to the discovery that no two snowflakes are alike. Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin is a Caldecott winner from 1999. (P.S.- Stay tuned for an author profile on Gail Gibbons on Growing Book By Book soon.) There are even tips for preparing for a snowstorm. Learn what happens when it snows and the different forms snow can take. It’s Snowing by Gail Gibbons gives all the facts you wanted to know about the white stuff. Snowballs by Lois Ehlert is a beautiful book that shows that your imagination + found objects + packed snow= a whole snow family. Watch and listen to the book being read in this clip from YouTube. Peter explores a fresh snow packed outdoor world and even tries to keep a snowball in his pocket for another day. This story is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this year. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is a classic wintertime story. These changes include melting and turning to fog only to return as snow again the next winter just in time to build a new snowman friend. Making a Friend by Alison McGhee tells of the changes a snowman deals with as the weather warms. I love when the pictures and your imagination have to create the story. A sled is left outside a cabin where some creatures borrow it to go exploring in the snow. Red Sled by Lita Judge is such a cute almost wordless book. By the way, did you see that you can now follow me on Pinterest? Just click the little red button on the right side of my home page. Oh, and a bonus snowman bookmark idea that I originally saw on Pinterest. Some are classics and some are new-found reads. Here are a few of my favorite fiction and non-fiction snow titles. I guess I’ll just have to read some books about snow to tide me over and help me dream of a winter wonderland. Ah, it’s January and here in our part of the Midwest we have yet to see a significant snow.
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