The First Day of Winter by Denise
Fleming
The Only Artist I Know Who Can Create Condensation With Fiber
Alive with swirling snow and lots of outdoor fun, the first ten days of winter
bring special gifts for a special friend. This cumulative tale will have
children chanting along as they discover all the trimmings needed for the
most perfect snowman ever!
Personal Review: The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming
If there were a librarian lobby out there, I would seriously suspect that
Denise Fleming was held under their sway. How else to explain the fact
that every book she creates fits your average children's librarian's needs to
a tee? Whether she's using her one-of-a-kind humor and artistic technique
to teach kids about colors as in "Lunch", providing a particularly original
animal readaloud as found in "Barnyard Banter", or writing the number one
BEST toddler storytime picture book, "In A Small Small Pond", the woman
practically caters to your average librarian's every desire. "The First Day
of Winter" is no exception to the rule. Utilizing a technique that

incorporates everything from colored cotton fiber and hand-cut stencils to
squeeze bottles, "Winter" provides the perfect wintertime readaloud book,
especially for those with a hearty singing voice.
Written to the tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas", "The First Day of
Winter" is a joyful tale of the building of a snowman. So the book begins
with, "On the first day of winter my best friend gave to me ... a red cap with
a gold snap". With each consecutive day the snowman is slowly built up
and up. It gets two bright blue mittens, 3 striped scarfs, 4 prickly
pinecones, etc. Some of these additions are alliterative and some just fun
to say like, "5 birdseed pockets". With each addition of food or
sustenance, winter animals cluster closer and closer to the snowman.
When the last verse (it doesn't go as far as twelve) results in 10 salty
peanuts it is clear that the snow"man" is actually a rather nice
snow"woman". Our last images in the book are of her walking off to have
a chat with another snowfellow at the top of a nearby hill.
There's such a sense of satisfaction when you read this book aloud. Even
if you don't sing the words you still get a smack of enjoyment from
pronouncing the words, "red cap with a gold snap". Adults can decide
whether or not they want to sing "5 birdseed pockets" as you would "5 gold
rings" or just keep the verse the same as the others. As always, Fleming
is far more inclined to be colorful rather than dull. From the ribald blue of a
blue jay to the cheery conglomeration of a bunch of different scarfs, this is
as visually arresting a book as any Fleming has come up with yet. Now I
cannot tell you how many times I've been approached by a library patron
who wants a good snowy winter book for their kids, but without any specific
holidays mixed in. Until now I've relied heavily on Ezra Jack Keats's, "The
Snowy Day", and Lois Ehlert's, "Snowballs". With the publication of this
book, I can now also heartily thrust "The First Day of Winter" into these
parents' waiting arms with a kind of haphazard glee. A fabulous addition to
any cold weather collection and a fun readaloud to boot.
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