When Winter Comes: A Lullaby Book

Where oh where do the leaves all go when winter comes and the cold winds blow?

What happens to fish, flowers, field mice, and other living things when ponds freeze and the air turns blustery? Walk with a curious child and his parents as winter's first snow falls and find out....

Publishers Weekly

Winter's first snowflakes have arrived, and as they dance to earth with the lingering autumn leaves, a bundled-up family and their pet Scottie head outdoors to celebrate the world being transformed. "Where oh where do the leaves all go/ when winter comes and the cold winds blow?" begins Van Laan's (So Say the Little Monkeys) poetic text. Similarly phrased questions--all with this lilting refrain--prompt a variety of rhyming answers. Caterpillars, for instance, retreat "Inside their cocoons,/ so tightly wound,/ waiting for spring/ to bring green to the ground." Even the family's red-cheeked child has a cozy haven from the ever-deepening snow in "a warm, warm bed/ .../ snuggling deep, fast asleep." Gaber (Pierre's Dream) uses a textured, antique-looking background for her wintry skies with a hint of holly berry-red and pine-green shades, and frames her nature scenes from a variety of viewpoints. Her characters' bright faces and vibrant outer vestments offer warm relief from the frigid winter scenery. Ages 2-7. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.