Winter's an  amazing time.  Plants die or go dormant, and animals alter the patterns  of their lives, changing color, migrating, and even going dormant  themselves.  
Our first selection of books on Hibernation and Animals in Winter can be found here. We hope that these extra selections help you track down the perfect practice reader.
Our first selection of books on Hibernation and Animals in Winter can be found here. We hope that these extra selections help you track down the perfect practice reader.
 Hibernation Station
Hibernation Stationby Michelle Meadows
Kurt Cyrus (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator)
Cute, cute, cute.  We loved the drawings in this book that takes an ENTIRELY whimsical look at hibernation.
Fuzzy slippers, warm pajamas.
Forest babies and their mamas...
show up early at the station!
Time for winter hibernation.
Reading Information:
Word Count: 200
Page Count: 40
Accelerated Reading Level: 1.5 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 139421
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
- ISBN-10: 1416937889
- see sample pages

Hibernation (Patterns in Nature series)
by Margaret Hall
Brilliant  and interesting photographs, easily understood diagrams and a  short,  informative text are the highlights of this Patterns in Nature  series,  which features titles on day and night, hibernation, phases of  the moon  and seasons of the year.
Children will indeed choose this book by its cover: it depicts a huge brown bear sound asleep, eating grass and grabbing a fish from the river. In answer to the question on the first page, why hibernate? we see a picture of splotches of snow stuck to a bear surrounded by snow. Food is hard to find. We see tiny animals hibernating also, including clusters of bats that don t even go to the bathroom.
Getting ready to hibernate means getting fat on fish (bears), filling a burrow with acorns (chipmunks), or digging a warm hole in the mud (frogs). Each title features a pattern diagram on the last page--in this case getting ready, finding a den, hibernating, and leaving the den. Hibernating is one of nature's patterns. Children can see the principle and learn the words that explain that principle.
There is a very short index, a glossary, a list of additional books, and a reference to the Facthoundweb site with links to age-appropriate sites for each book. This is an outstanding series of concept books for new and pre-readers; the photographs make the book interesting enough to use with older children who struggle with reading and concepts. --Childrens Literature Comprehensive Database, January 2007
Children will indeed choose this book by its cover: it depicts a huge brown bear sound asleep, eating grass and grabbing a fish from the river. In answer to the question on the first page, why hibernate? we see a picture of splotches of snow stuck to a bear surrounded by snow. Food is hard to find. We see tiny animals hibernating also, including clusters of bats that don t even go to the bathroom.
Getting ready to hibernate means getting fat on fish (bears), filling a burrow with acorns (chipmunks), or digging a warm hole in the mud (frogs). Each title features a pattern diagram on the last page--in this case getting ready, finding a den, hibernating, and leaving the den. Hibernating is one of nature's patterns. Children can see the principle and learn the words that explain that principle.
There is a very short index, a glossary, a list of additional books, and a reference to the Facthoundweb site with links to age-appropriate sites for each book. This is an outstanding series of concept books for new and pre-readers; the photographs make the book interesting enough to use with older children who struggle with reading and concepts. --Childrens Literature Comprehensive Database, January 2007
Reading Information:
Word Count: 181
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reading Level: 1.8 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 108397 Lexile: 390L
- Publisher: Capstone Press
- ISBN-10: 0736896163
 Hibernation (Nature's Cycles)
Hibernation (Nature's Cycles)by Mel Higginson
Table of ContentsHibernation
Animals That Hibernate
Body Changes for Hibernation
Glossary
Index
The  table of contents for  this book is so promising, but unfortunately the  book really doesn't  deliver, and the problem is the stilted text that  reads more like a  caption for the photographs, than an enthusiastic  explanation of the  wondrous phenomena that is hibernation.
Opposite the full page photo of a bear who appears to be looking at a rock we get: "Like marmots, grizzlies fatten up in the summer and fall. Then they curl up and hibernate." Which is not to say that the book can't confirm a lesson that has already been learned.
Reading Information:Opposite the full page photo of a bear who appears to be looking at a rock we get: "Like marmots, grizzlies fatten up in the summer and fall. Then they curl up and hibernate." Which is not to say that the book can't confirm a lesson that has already been learned.
Word Count: 244
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reading Level: 2.0 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 109821
- Publisher: Rourke Publishing (FL)
- ISBN-10: 1600441777amazon(we suggest you check your library for this one)

Do Polar Bears Snooze in Hollow Trees? A Book About Animal Hibernation
by Laura Purdie Salas
Examines where different animals hibernate.
Reading Information:
Word Count: 639
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reading level: 3.1 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 108823
- Publisher: Picture Window Books
- ISBN-10: 1404822313
- amazon

Hibernation
by Carolyn Scrace
Explains the process of hibernation, describing how a dormouse prepares for the long sleep.
Reading Information:
Word Count: unkn
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reading level: 3.3 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 65557
- Publisher: Franklin Watts
- ISBN-10: 0749644257
- see sample pages

Why Do Bears Sleep All Winter? A Book About Hibernation
by Mary Englarby, Jane Duden, Bernd Heinrich
Provides an explanation of what hibernation is including why animals hibernate, and how they do it.
Notes:  Despite the title, this book does not focus on bears, which has irritated quite a few reviewers.  We suggest you do not buy it sight unseen.
Reading Information:
Word Count: 720
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reading level: 3.6 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 107722
Lexile: 750L
- Publisher: Capstone Press
- ISBN-10: 0736863796
 Hibernation
Hibernation(Nature's Patterns)
by Anita Ganeri
Anita Ganeri's Hibernation is one of my favorite books that I've reviewed thus far.   At the mid-third grade level, it has great a lot going for it.  There  are great photographs and text that is large and easy to read.  (I don't  even need my glasses!)
One of the things I particularly like is the Pattern Framework that the author emphasizes. She writes that, "Nature is always changing. Many of these changes that happen follow a pattern. This means that they happen over and over again." And in fact, she ends the book with the emphasis that the cool-weather, warm-weather cycle is beginning again.
The other feature I love is that Anita finds fascinating examples to talk about. She mentions, for example, that the Poorwill is the ONLY bird that hibernates. (I didn't know that!) Here's a list of the table of contents so you can get an idea of all of the material that is covered.

One of the things I particularly like is the Pattern Framework that the author emphasizes. She writes that, "Nature is always changing. Many of these changes that happen follow a pattern. This means that they happen over and over again." And in fact, she ends the book with the emphasis that the cool-weather, warm-weather cycle is beginning again.
The other feature I love is that Anita finds fascinating examples to talk about. She mentions, for example, that the Poorwill is the ONLY bird that hibernates. (I didn't know that!) Here's a list of the table of contents so you can get an idea of all of the material that is covered.
TOC
Nature's Patterns
Winter Sleep
Storing Fat
A Place to Sleep
Settling Down
Slowing Down
Food and Waste
Sleepyheads
Waking Up
A Good Meal
Having Babies
Back to Sleep
Cooling Down
Fact File Glossary More Books to read Index

Structurally, there is a  photo on every page with a paragraph of text.  There is also a  text-balloon that explains what the reader is seeing.  An example would  be be: "A terrapin goes into its burrow and gets ready to hibernate."
Reading Information:
Word Count: 1,035
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reading Level: 3.6 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 86137
- Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree
- ISBN-10: 141091318X

What Is Hibernation? (Science of Living Things)
by John Crossingham
 Hibernation  is one of nature's greatest  miracles, allowing animals to sleep  through periods of extreme cold (and  heat). From the tundra to the  desert, this ability enables animals to  live in some of Earth's  harshest climates. Full-color photographs and  vivid text combine to  give children a view of the many different ways  that animals "sleep it  off". Highlights include: how an animal's body  uses fat to survive and  even wake itself up; how an animal finds and  prepares its den for  hibernation; animals that estivate, or hibernate to  escape heat;  animals that give birth and care for their young during  hibernation.       
Reading Information:
Word Count:       3,736
Page Count: 32
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reading level: 5.3        /       points: 1.0
AR quiz: 55008
AR quiz: 55008


