Snow can be magical for children, which explains why there are so many picture books about snow! I must have checked out over thirty books to find our very favorites to share with you.
Maybe you’re knee-deep in snow. Or maybe–like us–the only snow you’ll experience is through the pages of a book. Either way, I hope you’ll snuggle down with your kids and enjoy these wonderful picture books about snow.
Big Snow by Jonathan Bean is absolutely my favorite picture book about snow. It perfectly captures the magical feeling of anticipation in a perfect, childlike way. If you want to add just one snow book to your home library, it should be this one or…
Snow by Cynthia Rylant is a beautifully poetic text about the wonderful thoughts, emotions, and activities associated with snow. I feel like this text made the idea of a snowy day come alive to my kids who don’t get to experience it for themselves. The whole book just makes you want to snuggle.
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
No Two Alike by Keith Baker is about how, just like snowflakes, no two things are just alike. The illustrations and text are both lovely. This is a great read for preschoolers and toddlers.
Toys Meet Snow by Emily Jenkins is an adorable story about three toys, a buffalo, a plush stingray, and a rubber ball, who experience snow for the first time. The writing is beautiful, and the characters combine curiosity, poetic thinking, and science facts in their exploration of snow. There is also a chapter book series featuring these same characters.
The Story of Snow: The Science of Winder’s Wonder by Mark Cassino is just the book for your curious kid. It will answer all their questions about snow in an understandable way, and it contains beautiful enlarged photos of a variety of snowflakes.
Before Morning by Joyce Sidman is just a lovely wish for snow so that family could be together. The child’s mom, an airline piolet, is able to return home because of the snow.
Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner is a beautiful look at what different animals are doing in the winter. I was surprised at the amount of activity going on under the snow. The story is pulled together by the observations of a child cross-country skiing.
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin is a picture book biography of the man who first captured photographs of the intricate details of snowflakes. He was the first to discover no two snowflakes are alike. A few of his amazing photographs are included in the back.
Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton is a classic picture book about a snow plow who saves the day. The illustrations are charming, and it’s fun for kids to trace the path Katy takes as she plows the streets of her town. Burton also wrote Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.
Danny’s First Snow by Leonid Gore is the story of a bunny child going out to play in his first snow. He imagines the snow covered bushes and trees to be animals to play with, but then the trees look like scary wolves. Danny runs till the snow falls from them. This was a delightful read with the unstated theme of imagination.
Snow Globe Family by Jane O’Connor is about two families. One is a regular family and the other lives inside their snowglobe. The snowglobe family longs for a big snowstorm. My preschooler thought this book was incredibly fun.
What are your favorite picture books about snow?
I love so many of these! Before Morning is a new favorite, and we just read The Snowy Day at bedtime on Sunday night. I also like Snow by Manya Stojic, about animals using their five senses to guess when snow will arrive, and It’s Snowing by Olivier Dunrea, about a mama and her baby who bundle up in furs and go out to enjoy the snow at night. Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner is another good one. Great list!
I just realized I meant to include Over and Under Snow! I’m updating it now. I’ll have to check out the other’s you mentioned. Thanks! 🙂