Cold-Weather Books to Warm Up Your Programs

By Heidi Colonna, MS, CHES

Kind News Writer and Editor, RedRover

Every time the cold sets in here in New England, I think of Snowball: the small white Domestic Shorthair who stole my dad’s heart — and a spot by the radiator in his Springfield, Massachusetts home just before the first snowfall of fall 1997. She swiftly gave birth to three kittens among the shoes in his closet and made cat people out of us.

Simon & Schuster’s recent cold-kitty tale would have Snowball’s approval. In Ethan and the Strays, our pick for the September-October Kind News Jr. “Book Nook,” Ethan finds three kittens on his way to school. He learns their personalities, how they confront the cold, and — with some help from his local animal clinic — what he can do to help. It was no trouble for author John Sullivan to portray the behavior of friendly cats; he's rescued dozens of them in his hometown of Chicago. I read of kittens bunting Ethan just as we edited the feature story on the body language of cats. Young readers will learn along with Ethan, and will hope along with him too, that his dad will say yes to opening their home to one of the kittens!

Find activity sheets to accompany the book under “Resources and Downloads” at simonandschuster.com/books/Ethan-and-the-Strays.

Our November/December issue brings a cold-weather book from the RedRover Readers program and its collaboration with the Sacramento Native American Health Center. Winter’s Gifts: An Indigenous Celebration of Nature (Convergent/Random House) is the first children’s book from enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi nation, Kaitlin Curtice. In the story, a Potawatomi girl named Dani gains the courage to speak about her way of life and connection to nature. She takes her friends outside to show them the purpose of winter, as understood by her family and wildlife: to slow down and rest like the bears, tell stories inside with the family, and accept Earth’s gifts like falling snow and leaves. Dani wants her friends to love winter’s gifts as much as she does!

See the review in the November/December digital issue here. “Book Nook” reviews are found in the teacher and activity guides that accompany each issue of Kind News for grades 3-6 and Kind News Jr. for grades K-2. You can also bring Kind News print copies to teachers in your area through our Adopt-a-Classroom program. Email us at KindNews@RedRover.orgto learn more about the program!

The Winter’s Gifts teaching guide co-created by RedRover and the Sacramento Native American Health Center has helpful group discussion questions like, “Have you ever felt as if your friends didn’t understand your ways and beliefs like Dani?” Find more on the RedRover Readers program, including the online course, at RedRover.org/Readers.

And, don’t miss these earlier, true-story-based winter-themed books also used in RedRover’s education work!

*Buddy Unchained (Gryphon Press) and Out of the Cold (Lakes Animal Friendship) address chaining of dogs in cold weather.

*In The Forgotten Rabbit (Gryphon Press), a bunny gifted for Easter is left in a hutch all the way to winter’s arrival.

*Nobody’s Cats (Lakes Animal Friendship) is another community cats-themed story based on a project in rural Burns Lake, northern British Columbia, Canada. See our “Book Nook” in the Nov/Dec 2023 Kind News Jr. Teacher’s Guide.