SNOWMEN

In an ironic twist, this post is about books about cold and snow and it goes up I am enjoying being away from my home climate of cold and snow and am enjoying a couple days of sun and warm temps in the low 80s in Florida. Yesterday I shared how I like to include lots of Gingerbread activities in my classroom in the month of December because it offers non-denominational seasonal fun. The same is true for snowmen. There are so many fabulous crafts and writing ideas that springboard from snowmen. Like the Gingerbread, I'll soon be showing off what's going on in my classroom with a snowman theme, but I wanted to take a minute to share some of my favorite snowman-themed books to gather.


The Hawaii Snowman by definitely has a Christmas theme so if you are opting to include snowmen in your classroom in place of Christmas then this would not be the best choice. But, if you are OK with a little ho-ho-ho in the classroom or if you are looking to gift a book to a child, this is an option that should not be overlooked. The illustrations are breathtaking and the storyline is a springboard for great discussions on character and selflessness. This is an image from inside the book. Click on the book cover on the left to view additional glimpses into the book.

The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll should win a "Too Cute Award." It's about mice who enter a snowman contest. The book lends itself to writing and math extensions.



The Missing Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg would complement a study of snowmen or mittens quite nicely. It's a delightful story about a little girls who makes a snowman and loses her mitten in the process. It takes us through her imagination of what could have happened to it and ends in a sweet way.



Have you met Sneezy the Snowman ? He's hysterical. This is one of those fun books with a refrain that has all the little listeners joining in during a read aloud. Sneezy is very cold and his attempts to warm up result in a puddle. But children rally around him and lend a friend a hand. 




 All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle is a great book to add to your collection if you plan to have your kiddos do any process writing about how to build a snowman. It's a simple, easy read, but will be helpful in building schema for those friends who may have never built a snowman.

Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buechner is a follow-up to the other books in the series (Snowmen at Work , Snowmen at Christmas and Snowmen at Night), but this one is my favorite. It's about a snowman that doesn't melt and the adventures he goes on with his human friend. I'll definitely be having my students write their own stories inspired by this book. I see a bulletin board in my future.


Speaking of bulletin board...do you want to make a gorgeous and creative one? Snowballs by Lois Ehlert will deliver just the inspiration you need to get your little friends making collage masterpieces out of found objects.  

And of course writing about their work. Because that's how we roll.