Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story

by Sean Taylor, Alex Morss, Cinyee Chiu, Emily Pither (Editor)

Overview

In this cozy bedtime story, follow a child and his grandma through a winter landscape to explore how the Earth goes to sleep for winter.

Spot the sleeping animals as the tale unfolds, then learn about their hibernation habits from the information pages at the end.

Co-authors Sean Taylor (picture book author) and Alex Morss (ecologist, journalist, and educator) offer a gentle introduction to the concept of hibernation. In the frosty, quiet forest, the snow blankets the ground and the trees have shed their leaves. Where have all the animals gone? Are they asleep too?

In each cutaway scene, see what the child cannot—that underground below his feet are dens with sleeping creatures, and within the hollow trunks of trees, animals are nesting. After the story, annotated illustrations explain the hibernation facts for each animal and what they will do when they wake up for spring.

Cozy up as you expand your and your child’s knowledge of the natural world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780711270169
Publisher:	Happy Yak
Publication date:	10/12/2021
Series:	Seasons in the wild Series
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	425,315
Product dimensions:	9.25(w) x 11.40(h) x 0.45(d)
Age Range:	5 - 7 Years

About the Author

Sean Taylor is an award-winning author of over 50 books for young readers of many different ages. As well as writing, he has many years’ experience visiting schools, where he works with poetry and storytelling to encourage young people to write themselves. Originally from Bristol, UK, Sean is currently living in Brazil. seantaylorstories.com

Alex Morss is an ecologist, science journalist, educator, and author. She has worked in publishing for 20+ years and in ecology for 10+ years, and spent many more as a naturalist exploring the tree of life.

Cinyee Chiu is originally from Taiwan, now living in Vancouver, Canada. She got her illustration MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art. She’s always happy to try new things, and likes to make things pretty, playful, and exciting.

Editorial Reviews

10/21/2019

Scientific exploration unspools inside a story that begins with a boy’s summer visit to his Granny Sylvie, who “knows lots of things.” Depicted as active, aged, and round-bodied, with a lighter skin tone than her grandchild, she takes him to a secret glade buzzing with biodiversity. When they repeat their adventure in winter, the “the glade was quiet and bare.” The child’s complaint that “nothing’s alive” is met by Granny Sylvie’s wisdom, and as they talk, she describes the different animals and insects sheltering through the winter months (“the queen bumblebee sleeps in a tiny tunnel”). The first part of the book closes with the boy drifting off to his own winter sleep; a second section offers a more comprehensive explanation of hibernation and the specific behaviors of various animals. Chiu’s richly layered illustrations move from sunlit greens to frosty blues, cleverly using perspective to convey the boy’s curiosity alongside depictions of creatures and their habitats. Effective and engaging. Ages 5–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

“A wondrous introduction to the magic of hibernation for juvenile readers.”
 —Shaunterria Owens, Booklist

From the Publisher