Counting Winter coming September 24th from Eerdmans Books for Young Readers; 44 pages
About the Author: “The daughter of steel mill worker William J. and Eva (Lawrence) White, Nancy White Carlstrom was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, on August 4, 1948. She practiced writing poetry, enjoyed reading books like Little Women, and wanted to become a children’s book author at an early age. Carlstrom worked in the children’s department of her local library in Washington during her high school years. She graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, majoring in Elementary Education and earning her BA in 1970, also studying at Harvard Extension School and Radcliffe from 1974 to 1976. In September of 1974, she married David R. Carlstrom, later a pilot and a marketing director at Fairbanks International Airport. They had two children—Jesse and Joshua” (Bio from Pennsylvania State University Library).
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About the Illustrator: “Claudia McGehee is an illustrator-author living in a tallgrass prairie state. Her creative inspiration comes directly from nature, especially the regional prairies and woodland around her, and the Pacific Northwest, where she grew up. Claudia pairs her main illustration medium, scratchboard, with vivid watercolor to create earthy, wood-cut like images. Some days she writes about pictures. Some days she draws words. It’s all in telling a story” (Bio from illustrator’s website).
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Children typically begin to learn to count at a young age, and it can be helpful for them to be shown visual aids when doing so. Counting Winter is a delightful picture book that helps provide children just what they need through exquisite illustrations of Alaskan wildlife. This book can help kids practice their counting skills by encouraging them to search for the animals on each page, while also teaching children new words that relate to each animal’s movement and the sounds they make. There is even more educational material in the form of animal profiles at the back of the book, which give children information about each of the adorable creatures shown throughout.
Counting Winter caught my attention with its high contrast art style. The thick scratchboard lines on the white and subtle watercolor pages helped make each spread a delight to look at. The animal illustrations jump off the page with adorable creatures like snowshoe hares, red squirrels, chickadees, and musk oxen. The pastel winter palette is a refreshing change in children’s literature and makes the search for each animal even more enjoyable. McGhee does an excellent job creating realistic portraits of Alaskan wildlife, while still managing to create a whimsical and almost Christmas-like magic on each page. I really appreciated how the number of animals mentioned in the text on each page can be found in the detailed drawings, making this book a fun Where’s Waldo?-like activity for your child. This book is advantageous for younger children who are still learning to count, but it still has a lot of rigorous vocabulary for older children who may want to try reading and sounding words out on their own. While this children’s book does not focus on characters, plots, or sharing a moral, it is a great beginner’s book with a diverse array of animals and terminology. This book combines counting, wildlife, vocabulary, and visual learning to create a fun and elegant children’s read that the whole family can enjoy.
Counting Winter releases on September 24th, 2024.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank Eerdmans Books for Young Readers for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Jenica Delaney, Pine Reads Review Writer & Editor