book cover

Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story

by Sean Taylor and Alex Morss, illustrated by Cinyee Chiu

Interest age: 4 to 5

Published by Words and Pictures, 2019

  • Picture books

About this book

This beautifully illustrated, large-format picture book perfectly blends a sweet story with fascinating facts about animals sleeping through winter.

The story follows a little boy and his granny as they explore the glade behind her house. Granny Sylvie knows all about the bird songs and the names of flowers. She even knows the best places to climb up the slopes and sneak through the trees.

When the little boy next visits, he’s desperate to go back through the garden but this time it is winter and everything is different. Granny Sylvie explains that while everything is cold and bare, all the animals are hidden underground, keeping warm and sleeping through until spring. The little boy has many questions about the different types of animals and Granny Sylvie has lots of answers.

At the back of the book, there is more information on how different types of animals hibernate in winter, and how we can help them to stay safe. This book will work wonderfully in schools, as well as at home. As it’s all about being cosy and sleepy, it also makes a lovely bedtime book.

About the author

Sean Taylor is a British author of children's books. He grew up in Surrey, England, and taught in Zimbabwe before studying at Cambridge. He currently divides his time between the United Kingdom and Brazil, where his wife is from.

His books include the novel for teenagers, A Waste of Good Paper, a collection of folktales from the Amazon called The Great Snake, the Purple Class series, and picture books for young children including Boing!, Crocodiles are the Best Animals of All!, The World Champion of Staying Awake, The Grizzly Bear with the Frizzly Hair, Huck Runs Amuck!, Who Ate Auntie Iris?, The Ring Went Zing!, Tickling Tigers, and Goal!.

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