North Pole Library

Winter and Snow Books by Age Group

Winter books are not just for December. Snow, cold and long nights last for months in the North, and these books, sorted by age, carry readers from first snowfall to spring breakup.

Most titles here are widely held by public libraries, and many classics are free online through Project Gutenberg. Editions, formats and availability vary, so check your local library catalogue.

Age ranges are guides, not rules. Many picture books suit older children, and a confident young reader may be ready for middle-grade novels early. Read longer novels yourself first if you are unsure about content.

Babies and toddlers (ages 0–3)

For the youngest readers, look for sturdy board books with simple text, rhythm and clear pictures.

  • The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (1962). Peter explores a snowy city day. Winner of the 1963 Caldecott Medal and available as a board book.
  • Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle (1991). Call-and-response animal sounds in the style of Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
  • Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman (2002). Forest animals throw a party in a hibernating bear's cave.
  • Little Owl's Snow by Divya Srinivasan (2018). Little Owl sees snow for the first time and learns how other animals get through winter.
  • Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming (1997). Animals pass along the news that winter is coming before settling down to hibernate.

Preschool and kindergarten (ages 3–6)

Picture books with a little more story, gentle suspense and art worth exploring.

  • The Mitten by Jan Brett (1989). A Ukrainian folktale in which animals squeeze into a lost mitten.
  • Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr (1987). A child and father go owling on a snowy night. Winner of the 1988 Caldecott Medal.
  • The Snowman by Raymond Briggs (1978). A wordless picture book about a snowman who comes to life; great for telling the story together.
  • Snow by Uri Shulevitz (1998). A boy believes in the snow when the grown-ups don't. A Caldecott Honor book.
  • Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton (1943). A determined crawler tractor digs out a snowbound city.
  • Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner, illustrated by Mark Buehner (2002). What snowmen get up to while we sleep.
  • Brave Irene by William Steig (1986). A girl battles a blizzard to deliver a dress her mother sewed for the duchess.
  • Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse, illustrated by Barbara Lavallee (1991). A child tests her mother's love, set in the Arctic, with art by an Alaska-based illustrator.

Early readers (ages 6–9)

Books children can begin to read themselves, plus richer picture books and narrative nonfiction.

  • Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel (1976). Includes sledding in “Down the Hill” and a worried wait in “Christmas Eve.”
  • Henry and Mudge in the Sparkle Days by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Suçie Stevenson (1988). Henry and his big dog enjoy snow and holidays.
  • Polar Bears Past Bedtime by Mary Pope Osborne (1998). Magic Tree House #12 takes Jack and Annie to the Arctic.
  • Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Mary Azarian (1998). The true story of Wilson Bentley, who photographed snowflakes. Winner of the 1999 Caldecott Medal.
  • The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder by Mark Cassino with Jon Nelson (2009). Close-up photographs explain how snow crystals form.
  • Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal (2011). The hidden world of animals living beneath the snowpack.
  • Balto and the Great Race by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel (1999). The 1925 serum run to Nome, a key piece of Alaska history, as a short chapter book.

Middle grade (ages 9–12)

Novels with survival, adventure and magic in the cold.

  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950). Four siblings find a land trapped in endless winter.
  • The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1940). A Dakota Territory town struggles through the brutal winter of 1880–81.
  • Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (1972). A girl survives on the Alaska tundra with a wolf pack. Winner of the 1973 Newbery Medal.
  • Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner (1980). A boy enters a dogsled race to save his grandfather's farm. Short, but have tissues ready.
  • Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen (1996). An alternate sequel to Hatchet in which Brian must survive a northern winter.
  • Woodsong by Gary Paulsen (1990). Paulsen's memoir of sled dogs and running the Iditarod.
  • The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken (1962). A snowbound adventure in an alternate England overrun by wolves.
  • The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich (1999). A year in the life of an Ojibwe girl in 1847, including a hard winter.

Teens (ages 12 and up)

  • The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper (1973). On his eleventh birthday at midwinter, Will Stanton learns he is one of the Old Ones. A Newbery Honor book.
  • The Golden Compass (Northern Lights) by Philip Pullman (1995). Lyra travels north to the Arctic in the first of the His Dark Materials books.
  • The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903). A dog stolen for the Klondike Gold Rush. Contains violence; best for mature readers.
  • Two Old Women by Velma Wallis (1993). A Gwich'in legend from Alaska about two elders abandoned during a famine winter who survive on their own.

More teen picks, including holiday romances, are in our guide to Christmas books for teens and adults.

Making the most of winter reading

  • Pair books with outings: read Owl Moon before a winter walk, or Snowflake Bentley before catching flakes on dark paper.
  • Follow the Iditarod: the race usually starts in early March; read Balto and the Great Race, Stone Fox or Woodsong while you track the mushers.
  • Use the long nights: a chapter a night of a middle-grade novel can carry a family through January.