Overview

In the northwoods, most of the year is spent preparing for the longest and most demanding season: winter. Families of people and animals alike begin their gathering for the cold months as early as the start of spring. Much needs to be done - planting and gardening, fishing and berry picking, chopping and piling wood, harvesting wild rice, and searching for warm boots and socks. Like the firewood and jarred rhubarb, summer memories are stored so that stargazing and fireflies are remembered on the coldest of winter days. In this companion to her memorable debut, Antler, Bear, Canoe: A Northwoods Alphabet Year, Betsy Bowen delights readers with a warm regard for the woods and its inhabitants. Gathering, illustrated anew in vibrantly colored woodcuts, is a celebration of the changing seasons laced with a special reverence for the magic and mystery of winter and the first big snow of the year. 5-8 years

Full Product Details

9780395981344

Table of Contents

Reviews

The sophisticated counting book conveys both the magnitude of a northern Minnesota winter and the joy of simple domestic rituals as it moves from zero to twelve and from May to December, describing things a family does during warmer months to prepare for frigid temperatures.

A companion to Bowen's alphabet book, Antler, Bear, Canoe (1991), this counting book is a celebration of living in the north woods of Minnesota through the seasons of the year. Not really a concept book--the things to be counted from 0 to 12 on each double-page spread are not always consistently organized or easy to identify--this is more a lyrical picture book of an amazing place. The nature writing is precise and detailed, and children will pore over the bold, colored wood-block prints for the action and information. Winter is always there, even in the springtime scene on the first page: We'll gather food and firewood and memories to be ready for the white snow and the cold dark nights when they come. Winter is there in the brief summer and in the harvesting of wild rice in the fall. The joy of 12 inches of snow is a glorious visual climax: 'Tomorrow we'll be able to ski! All day long.' Booklist, ALA The sophisticated counting book conveys both the magnitude of a northern Minnesota winter and the joy of simple domestic rituals as it moves from zero to twelve and from May to December, describing things a family does during warmer months to prepare for frigid temperatures. Horn Book

A companion to Bowen's alphabet book, Antler, Bear, Canoe (1991), this counting book is a celebration of living in the north woods of Minnesota through the seasons of the year. Not really a concept book--the things to be counted from 0 to 12 on each double-page spread are not always consistently organized or easy to identify--this is more a lyrical picture book of an amazing place. The nature writing is precise and detailed, and children will pore over the bold, colored wood-block prints for the action and information. Winter is always there, even in the springtime scene on the first page: We'll gather food and firewood and memories to be ready for the white snow and the cold dark nights when they come. Winter is there in the brief summer and in the harvesting of wild rice in the fall. The joy of 12 inches of snow is a glorious visual climax: 'Tomorrow we'll be able to ski! All day long.' Booklist, ALA<br><br> The sophisticated counting book conveys both the magnitude of a northern Minnesota winter and the joy of simple domestic rituals as it moves from zero to twelve and from May to December, describing things a family does during warmer months to prepare for frigid temperatures. Horn Book

Author Information

Betsy Bowen is the author-illustrator of several books for children. Reviewers have described her distinctive woodcuts as bold, rich and handsome. The mother of three sons, she has lived with her family on the rugged north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota for more than thirty years.

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