Children eagerly wait for the snow to begin to fall, and when it does, they spend a day of fun playing in it.

Rabbit’s Snow Dance Master storytellers Joseph and James Bruchac present a hip and funny take on an Iroquois folktale about the importance of patience, the seasons, and listening to your friends. Pair it with other stories about stubborn animals like Karma Wilson’s Bear Wants More and Verna Aardema’s Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears. Rabbit loves the winter. He knows a dance, using an Iroquois drum and song, to make it snow—even in summertime! When rabbit decides that it should snow early, he starts his dance and the snow begins to fall. The other forest animals are not happy and ask him to stop, but Rabbit doesn’t listen. How much snow is too much, and will Rabbit know when to stop? The father-son duo behind How Chipmunk Got His Stripes, Raccoon’s Last Race, and Turtle’s Race with Beaver present their latest retelling of Native American folklore. “The telling is sprightly, and Newman's ink-and-watercolor artwork makes an ideal companion. An appealing addition to folktale shelves.” —Booklist “This modern retelling maintains [the Bruchacs’] solid reputation for keeping Native American tales fresh.” —School Library Journal “The picturesque language makes it a pleasure to read aloud.”—BCCB

Mr. Larch is not a very neighborly neighbor. He never has any visitors. His gray, gloomy house never has any decorations. He avoids everyone and everyone avoids him. But now Mr. Larch has a new neighbor. Willow and her family have moved into the bright yellow house directly across the street. Willow loves her new house and neighborhood. She loves the summer and planting her garden. She loves the fall and sharing vegetables with her neighbors. And when winter arrives, she loves that, too. She can't wait for the first snowfall because she has found the perfect hill for sledding. And it's right behind Mr. Larch's house. Can Willow melt his cold heart in time to enjoy a Snow Day? Denise Brennan-Nelson's books with Sleeping Bear Press include the Likes to Say series, Someday Is Not a Day of the Week, and Buzzy the bumblebee. As a national speaker, she travels the country sharing her reading and writing enthusiasm with schoolchildren and teachers. Denise lives in Howell, Michigan. Cyd Moore studied graphic design and fine arts at the University of Georgia. Her work includes posters, billboards, books, and newspaper and magazine articles. In addition to Willow, Cyd is the illustrator of more than 35 books, including the Stinky Face series. She lives in Commerce, Michigan.

Eager for a day off from school, Ruthie invents a song and dance in hopes of bringing about a big snowfall, and soon the entire school is dancing with her.

A poignant, inspirational account of women’s suffering and resilience in Stalin’s forced labor camps—diligently transcribed in the kitchens and living rooms of 9 survivors. “A worthy addition to the literature of the gulag that also features intimate glimpses of the author of Doctor Zhivago.” —Kirkus Reviews The pain inflicted by the gulags has cast a long and dark shadow over Soviet-era history. Zgustová’s collection of interviews with former female prisoners not only chronicles the hardships of the camps, but also serves as testament to the power of beauty in face of adversity. Where one would expect to find stories of hopelessness and despair, Zgustová has unearthed tales of the love, art, and friendship that persisted in times of tragedy. Across the Soviet Union, prisoners are said to have composed and memorized thousands of verses. Galya Sanova, born in a Siberian gulag, remembers reading from a hand-stitched copy of Little Red Riding Hood. Irina Emelyanova passed poems to the male prisoner she had grown to love. In this way, the arts lent an air of humanity to the women’s brutal realities. These stories, collected in the vein of Svetlana Alexievich’s Nobel Prize-winning oral histories, turn one of the darkest periods of the Soviet era into a song of human perseverance, in a way that reads as an intimate family history. “We see the darkest years of Soviet history illuminated, again and again, by small yet radiant flashes of humanity, of art, of beauty.” —Olga Grushin, author of The Dream Life of Sukhanov

Strawberry Shortcake and her friends are going to put on an ice-skating performance. Since Plum Pudding is the berry best dancer, she will be the star of the show. But the day before the performance, Plum hurts her leg. How can the show go on without her?

With their teacher's help, schoolchildren anticipate the first snow of the season and enjoy their day off from school. At school, as the snow begins to fall, the children talk about how snowflakes are formed. They make paper snowflakes and cover the windows with them. Outside, they see real snowflakes covering the ground. Their teacher smiles and says, "Wear your pajamas backward tonight and do the magic dance." Maybe, with a little luck, they will have a snow day! All through the evening the snow falls. So with their pajamas on backwards, the children do the magic dance. In the morning, they get their wish. The world is transformed-it's a snow day! Will Hubbell celebrates winter in his latest picture book, packed with fascinating information about snowflakes. His realistic, appealing art will have readers making hot cocoa before curling up with Snow Day Dance. Will Hubbell lives in New York.