Affiliate links may be included for your convenience. View our privacy and affiliates policy for details.
There are so many great books for kids about winter holidays, snow and all the things that go with this time of year. We’ve teamed up with The Jenny Evolution and a bunch of other awesome kid bloggers to share a bunch of collections of winter and holiday books you can use to beef up holiday wish lists or add to your book advent calendar.
I decided to share books about animals in the snow because there are so many lovely picture books with real animals in them, as well as some stories about how animals deal with the snow that use illustrations instead of photographs but are still a lot of fun.
These are literally just the books we had on our shelves already; I’m sure there are many, many more in this genre and would love to hear about your favorites, too!
First Snow in the Woods
First Snow in the Woods by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick is a lovely book about what happens when the season changes from fall to winter and the snow begins to fall. (There are other books in this series as well, but this is the only one we have read.)
It is illustrated with photographs of deer, squirrels, butterflies, mice and more woodland creatures, and explores a fawn experiencing his first snow. The other animals tell him that something is happening. Woodchuck urges the other animals to hibernate, while the chipmunk advises hiding acorns.
“Why would I want to hide acorns?” wondered the fawn. “Acorns are everywhere.”
His mom urges him to pay attention, he protests the change and declares he isn’t ready, but of course nature has its way.
Winter Friends and Happy Bird Day
A couple more books by the same authors and on the same theme are Winter Friends and Happy Bird Day. These are board books and are intended for younger children than the In the Woods series, but some older kids will like them, too.
Winter Friends shows animals interacting with a snowman, perching on or eating his carrot nose, for example. Happy Bird Day includes the snowman and a little girl, both of whom help to feed the birds when it’s cold and snowy.
Over and Under the Snow
This one is illustrated with drawings, not pictures, but Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner with art by Christopher Silas Neal is a nice book to get kids thinking about where animals go in the winter.
It tells the story of a girl and her dad skiing in the woods and the animals they encounter, with drawings that include the “secret kingdom” under the snow where animals stay safe and warm in the winter.
They look at the tracks of the animals who stay over the snow and we see underground animals like voles, mice, a bear, frogs and beavers doing what they need to do to make it through the winter.
The story is a reminder that we don’t see all that is really going on and that all the animals are still there even though they are under the snow.
Annie and the Wild Animals
I feel like Annie and the Wild Animals is not as well known as some other Jan Brett books, but this is a cute one. When Annie’s cat goes missing, she decides she’s going to attract a new friend by leaving corn cakes in the snow for animals to find.
But instead of attracting a pet, she lures a moose, a wildcat, bears, a stag and a wolf to her door.
She uses up all her corn meal and only manages to attract all the scary animals of the forest, but soon the thaw of early spring arrives and with it, the cat returns with a surprise of her own.
It’s a sweet story and like all of Brett’s, great for knitters and those who like to look at lots of details as they read.
Want more ideas related to wintry kids books? Check out my activity related to the book Snowballs. And make sure to check out all the collections at The Jenny Evolution. 
Do you like any books about animals in the snow? I’d love to add to our collection!
