Warm Winter

by Feridun Oral, Feridun Oral (Illustrator)

Overview

This classic holiday book about a mouse and his friends makes a perfect gift for boys and girls 3 - 5 years old.

One cold winter morning Little Mouse ventures out in search of enough firewood to heat his nest. But when he tries to drag his pile home, he realizes everything he’s gathered is much too heavy for him. Maybe his friends can help out, but they’d better hurry, because there’s a blizzard on the way. If they can find a way to work together and keep each other safe, maybe they can all have the warm winter they've been hoping for. This beautifully illustrated picture book shows the power of friendship, persistence–and a little luck–to make our dreams come true. This is a winter story that will warm your heart.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789888341290
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	10/01/2016
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Feridun Oral was born in 1961 in Kirikkale, Turkey and graduated from Marmara University. In addition to book illustrations, he also creates paintings, sculptures, textiles and ceramics in his workshop in Istanbul. He also wrote and illustrated The Message of the Birds and The Red Apple.

Editorial Reviews

"A warming read." —Kirkus Reviews


"This beautifully illustrated picture book shows the power of friendship, persistence–and a little luck–to make our dreams come true. This is a winter story that will warm your heart . . . . the perfect story to read on a cold winter's day." —mundiekids.blogspot.com

From the Publisher

12/01/2016
PreS-Gr 3—Living in a beautiful forest, Little Mouse awakens one winter morning and discovers that he needs to gather more firewood to warm his home for his family. Snow begins to fall as a blizzard quickly approaches. Little Mouse works hard and soon has a pile of twigs so large that he cannot possibly move it by himself. So he asks his friend Rabbit, but the two of them are too weak to make the stash budge. The friends ask Fox, who lends his sled, but all three realize that they are going to have to ask big, strong Bear for help. With the snow now falling harder, the friends start to move the large pile, but disaster strikes, and they have to make a quick decision to stay safe in the storm. While the story of animals working together to move a heavy object has been told before, there is an extra element of adversity that these characters face, and they must collaborate and persevere to overcome obstacles. Themes of teamwork, selflessness, and persistence run through the narrative and will reach readers of all ages. The setting is enchanting and the illustrations so realistically rendered that they look almost like photographs of the forest in winter. The title, A Warm Winter, has a dual meaning, and the book could serve as the basis for language arts or character-building lessons. VERDICT A heartwarming read-aloud that children will love to snuggle up with and listen to.—Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE

School Library Journal

Aug. 30, 2016
Little Mouse enlists the help of woodland neighbors when he gathers firewood to warm his nest. It’s wintertime, and Little Mouse is determined to gather fuel to keep his family warm. He sets out wearing a very long red scarf that he uses to bundle an enormous pile of sticks and pine cones and such, but the pile is so huge that he can’t move it. He asks Rabbit and Fox—who has a sled—for help, and while it’s unclear how they manage to move the pile onto the sled, they do. But they still can’t move it. Finally, they ask Bear for help, and he obliges. There’s no sense of antagonism among the animals—the clear enemy is the developing snowstorm. Although the little peaceable kingdom is successful in finally moving the pile together, a stumble causes it to fall. The storm is severe at this point, and the four animals huddle together under the makeshift nest to wait it out. When they emerge, they divide up the sticks among themselves, and each brings home firewood to ensure a warm winter. Throughout, Oral’s textured illustrations in a muted palette outshine the written narrative, reveling in the contrasts of the figures against white snow. The blizzard scenes also effectively create a mood of peril with their darkening, hectic lines. A warming read. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Review