• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
The Palmetto Mom
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Traveling/Packing
    • Disney World and Disneyland
    • Disney Cruise Line
    • Universal Studios
    • United Kingdom
    • U.S. Domestic Travel
  • Recipes
  • Teaching
  • Writing/Reading
  • Shopping
  • Celebrating

Home » Reading » Best Winter Read Aloud Books for Children

Best Winter Read Aloud Books for Children

January 14, 2021 by Lauren Leave a Comment

Sharing is caring!

  • Share

Are you looking for the best winter read alouds for children during these cold days of winter? These are some of my favorite winter seasonal books, both as a mom of four and as an elementary teacher. These all have winter themes, so they can be used after the holidays, the time of year when there is a lull between Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Hope you find this winter book list helpful for making additions to your library, whether at home or at school!

“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.“

My best advice for teaching with the best winter read-aloud for children is to always follow the same formula. Preview the text, read the text, and examine vocabulary from the text. Then, engage the text with follow-up activities. Allow children time to talk and write about the text extending the learning. Integrating quality children’s literature with meaningful activities is essential in creating lesson plans. If you want more information about how important read-alouds are during the school day, you can read more here.

Previewing a Text During a Winter Read Aloud with Children

Previewing the best winter read-alouds for children builds anticipation and allows the teacher to recognize what background knowledge the children may already have about the text. Some simple questions to ask might be:

  • Study the book cover. What do you notice about the characters?
  • Flip through the book (if it has photos/illustrations). Do you predict the text will be fiction or nonfiction? Why?
  • What do you already know about wintertime?
  • What are your favorite winter activities?
  • Describe the perfect winter wonderland.
  • Read aloud the names of the author and illustrator. Have you read other books by this author?
  • Read a short summary of the story. Make some predictions together.
snowman with shovel
Photo by Jill Wellington from Pexels

Follow Up Winter Activities with Winter Read Alouds for Children

More information is retained if children engage with the story. Some activities students could complete after each read-aloud or chapter selection include:

  • Older kids can complete a short chapter summary in a reading journal.
  • Illustrate a picture of what might happen next.
  • Young readers might want to color a wintry picture of snow angels, a polar bear, or a cup of hot chocolate.
  • Complete a character graphic organizer where children describe what they learned about the main character.
  • Turn and talk to a neighbor about their favorite part of the book.
  • Work with partners to create a short five-sentence summary.
  • Write a simple story in the same style as the read-aloud.
Five-Sentence-Summary-The-Palmetto-Mom-3Download
girl reading with glasses

Winter Chapter Read Alouds for Children

Early Chapter Read Alouds

Henry and Mudge and the Snowman Plan is a great early reader chapter book following the antics of Henry and Mudge on a snowy day. In this one, Henry and Mudge attempt to build the perfect snowman in a winter wonderland! Will they make an itty bitty snowman or the biggest snowman ever? Ideal for young children in grades K-2. Make sure to add this one to your book basket at home too!

Ready, Freddy, Ready, Set Snow! is the story of Freddy and a snowshoe competition during the first snow. Can he beat the bully of the class during their class’ mini Olympics? A perfect fun book for a K-3 read-aloud on a cold day!

Elementary Winter Chapter Books

The Long Winter is a classic chapter book by Laura Ingalls Wilder, book 6 of 9 in the Little House series. Wilder writes of a harsh winter in 1880 and how her family survived and thrived in the days of winter. As always, Wilder presents a fantastic novel in early America. This is a good book for students in grades 4-7.

Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Case of the Sneaky Snowman is a favorite in our household! Who doesn’t love Nancy Drew? In book 5 of the series, Nancy and her friends solve the mystery of the disappearance of their snowman Sherlock. Where could he be? The Clue Crew finds out in this fun mystery. Add this one to your winter book list for kids in Great for grades 1-4.

Magic Tree House: Merlin Missions Winter of the Ice Wizard is a fantastic book in the series. Jack and Annie are on a mission to find Morgan and Merlin in a frozen kingdom. This book is a bit longer and more challenging than the typical Magic Tree House texts, but still perfect for Grades K-3 during this winter time of year.

winter day for best children's read alouds for winter
Photo by Burak K from Pexels

Winter Picture Books for Children

There are so many fantastic winter picture books to share during these chilly months. These are a few of my favorites!

Snow Books

The Mitten by Jan Brett is one of my favorites for winter. It follows a mitten lost by his little boy on all of his adventures throughout the winter. Any book by Jan Brett is really my favorite. Hop here if you want to find more of my favorites! They are great for early elementary.

Sneezy the Snowman is such an entertaining story. The kids love the rhymes and the silliness of his antics as he melts every time he tries to warm up. This is a great book to practice sequencing as the children try to remember all the ways that Sneezy attempts to feel better.

Snow by Cynthia Rylant is a beautiful, poetic story about the magic of snow. It is perfect for a study using flowery language, and the beautiful watercolor illustrations are lovely. It is such a peaceful, sweet book. Best for early elementary.

The Night Before a Snow Day is one of my favorites in this Night Before series. Every kid can relate to the excitement of a looming snow day! This would be a perfect fun book to read aloud before journaling about favorite things to do during a winter day.

Snowmen at Night is one of my favorites to read aloud during the winter. It follows the antics of snowmen during the night when the rest of the world is asleep. It is the perfect book to kick off a creative writing unit on what your students’ snowmen do when they come to life!

kids playing in front of a tree

Animal Books

Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story is a beautiful story about what happens in the winter to wild animals all around the world. It follows a boy and his grandma around the countryside to observe the animals and includes informational pages at the end to extend the learning. This one is a great one to add to your seasonal books about winter!

Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold is a wonderful collection of poems about how animals survive the winter months. This is another perfect book for launching a writing workshop on a poetry unit.

child reading
Photo by Katerina Holmes from Pexels

Winter Nonfiction Read Alouds for Children

Who Lives Here? Polar Animal is a great read-aloud for younger elementary children. The book follows various cold-weather animals and their habitats, explaining how each animal is specially designed to withstand the elements.

Curious about Snow is a great nonfiction book by the Smithsonian. There are so many amazing facts about snowflakes, along with beautiful photographs! This is best for early primary grades. Perfect for an art project making snowflakes or science experiments on water and changing matter.

Here is the Arctic Winter is a lovely book about animals and how they respond to the cold season. This is a poetic book with gorgeous illustrations. Inspiring and perfect for early elementary children.

I hope this list of best winter read-alouds for children has been helpful to you! Remember, reading aloud is fun and important at every age! Even adults love to have stories read aloud, so you can really teach with read-alouds for any age. Enjoy snuggling up and reading with your own children or reading aloud to your students this season.

Filed Under: Reading

Previous Post: « Inauguration Day Books and Activities for Kids
Next Post: Disney on Ice Dream Big 2021 »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter

Welcome, Y’all!

Thanks for stopping The Palmetto Mom. My goal is to bring you encouragement through the simple things, and some of my favorites are books, cooking, traveling and family celebrations. Hope you enjoy! Read here for a little more about me.

Latest Posts

Disney Cruise Line ship

What to Know for Disney Cruise Line Embarkation Day

1923 menu cover

Full Review: 1923 Dining Restaurant on the Disney Wish

carrot cake cookie

The Famous Carrot Cake Cookie at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Palo sign on the wall on Disney ship

Full Review of Palo Brunch Menu on Disney Cruise Line

Rainforest room sign

Full Guide to the Rainforest Room On a Disney Wish Cruise

Untangled salon sign on Disney Wish

Exploring the Untangled Salon on the Disney Wish

ConvertKit Form

Footer

Thank you!

Thank you for visiting The Palmetto Mom! Hope you found encouragement today.

Copyright © 2025 The Palmetto Mom · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer