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The nights grew longer. The winds blew colder. It was a time of changing seasons."Have you gathered your nuts yet, Spotty?" the chipmunk asked the fawn as he scurried through the woods burying nuts here and there. "I heard it from the rabbit, who heart it from the owl...winter's coming early this year, you better get ready!" But was he ready? Was he paying attention to his heartsong?

Summary: This book is about animals who can kind of talk with the use of personification, which means giving a person place or thing a human like characteristics. For instance, the hummingbird hears a song in his head.
Personal Experience: I have not had really any personal experience with this sort of thing but I like to read these kinds of books to children.
Classroom: I think that it would be fun to read a book like this to children in a classroom because it could teach them to have fun, and again like I have said it teaches children that it is ok to have an imagination.

Nature photography team Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick - whose self-published picture-book, Stranger in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy, was a surprise hit back in 1999 - return to the same formula in this celebration of the changing of the seasons. As a great gray owl makes his way south, bringing with him tidings of the coming winter, the various woodland animals prepare for the approaching cold in their own way, chattering amongst themselves in the process. Only the faun, confused by the rush about him, remains unsure as to what is happening. Luckily, Mother Doe is there to explain, and to show him the way...

Although I wouldn't say that I found First Snow in the Woods particularly compelling, as a story - not that there was anything wrong with the narrative, per se, but tales about the changing of the seasons are not so uncommon, and this one doesn't really stand out - I was impressed by the photography, which was simply gorgeous! Sams and Stoick really know how to capture those magical moments when, their animals subjects seemingly unaware of them, the natural world appears all undisturbed. Some of the images here were simply breathtaking, as when the robin, surrounded by deep red berries, perches on his snow-encrusted branch, or when the chubby faun emerges from a drift with a snow-covered face. This is definitely a book that young nature-lovers, winter-worshipers, and would-be photographers will want to examine! ( )

Like its predecessor, "Stranger in the Woods," this book uses photographs in order to tell a story about the happenings in the forest. However, this book is not about snow but about the changing of the seasons and what the animals must do to prepare for the first snow. The owl comes to warn the other animals that the first snow is coming and the fawn worries that he will not be ready. However, the snow comes and the fawn emerges prepared for the winter ahead.

This book also includes some information on migration and hibernation, but not enough to be considered an "informational text."

The photographs in this book are exquisite and include images of the Northern lights, various animal close-ups, and occasional sunsets. The poetic, verse-like text matches the photographs of the animals perfectly and both work together to move the story along. The way that the author/illustrator team uses light in the photographs to match the mood of the text also adds to this book's beauty.

Highly recommended for preschool and elementary school libraries. ( )