Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story

When I was a child, I had the fortune to witness the changing of the seasons in my grandmother's house. The garden was enormous, full of flowers and trees, cats, even a well (dried up and fully covered) but beautiful nonetheless. The trees would turn to yellow and gold and read, their leaves would form a thick ‘‘floor''. In the winter, their bare branches used to scare me, especially in the evening, and I would anxiously wait for the flowers to bloom again. (I wasn't much of a Gothic soul back then...). Nature would fall asleep, even the heart of the capital, and our cats preferred the warmth of my grandma's kitchen.

In this beautiful book, a grandmother guides her grandchild to a journey from autumn to winter and explains how nature gradually falls asleep to protect and preserve her kingdom. Together, they witness the animals of the woodlands, the creatures of the water realm and the ones that make their home under the earth getting ready to overcome winter and keep warm and safe until the coming of the spring.

Sadly, the times the children of my generation had witnessed are ending, in my opinion. The distinction between the seasons is becoming less and less visible in the ‘‘big cities'' and there are people who claim that climate change is a myth. How can the world change for the better when the levels of stupidity are so high among those in power and their voters? I fear the answer is right there, in front of us...

Embellished with beautiful annotated illustrations explaining the hibernation process for the animals of each realm and ending on a very tender note, this book is a fascinating reading choice for the young ones and a wonderful addition to every child's bookcase.

''You see'', she told me, ‘‘There's plenty of life tucked up, hiding in the cold.
I nodded. I could feel the cozy magic of the dark night outside.
And even though it wasn't very late,
I closed my eyes for a winter sleep.'‘

Many thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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