What’s Your Winter City?

My Winter City by James Gladstone and Gary Clement is a book for all city dwelling, winter experiencing readers.

What a lovely reminder of the magic of freshly fallen snow! At times, living in the city feels hard and grey, especially when the snow starts to fly. Walking down the sidewalk becomes a chore and forget about if you have to park on the street. My Winter City brought back a spark and a reminder of the beauty in the winter. How sledding down the biggest hill you can find provides a special kind of thrill. How walking down the sidewalk involves a sled instead and the parks become a blank white canvas to leave your mark. I think this story is just as important to adults, maybe more so, than the children they are reading it to.

I love how James Gladstone leaves readers with a simple question at the end when he states, “That’s my winter city. What’s yours?” What an excellent jumping off point for creative writing for our readers. We all live in different places and we all experience the winter in different ways. What an awesome opportunity for each reader to describe their experiences with winter in the city. In a classroom, readers will more than likely learn something new about their classmates and maybe even begin to see winter with a newfound appreciation.

The book is quite large in scale, perfectly suited for a read aloud. Gary Clement’s illustrations make it even more so. Each two page spread is filled with the goings on of the city. There are cars, buses, people, store fronts, parks, etc. The illustrations felt so familiar, almost like Gary Clement has walked through my neighbourhood for inspiration. I think many readers will have the same experience reading this story.