Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story

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. [em](Sept.) [/em]