The Key into Winter [Library Binding]

Janet S. Anderson (Author), David Soman (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994 | Age Level: 5 and up

Clara's mother tells the story of how, as a young girl, she hid the key into winter, in an attempt to stop the seasons from changing and thus save her dying grandmother.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-A gentle, touching text that tells a mythic tale of a rural African-American family who is entrusted with the four keys that open the doors enabling one season to progress into another. Little Clara's mother relates a favorite story about her own experience as a child when she stole the key to winter to prevent autumn from ending, thinking that she could keep her beloved grandmother alive by stopping time. No winter, however, meant no Christmas, no sleigh riding, and worst of all, no spring, summer, or harvest, and the dying woman longed to see one more spring. Clara's mother reluctantly searched out the key, and allowed life to go on. The theme is similar to that in Annie and the Old One (Little, 1972) by Miska Miles. The natural movement from season to season and from life to death is shown as inevitable and right. Sensitively written in simple, lyrical prose, the story reads aloud well. In strong, expressive watercolors, the realistic and individualized characters are pictured in a comfortable farm setting. Full-and double-page spreads add drama and variety to the format. The story was first printed in Cricket (Sept., 1989).
Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 4-8. The march of the seasons is the metaphor for the passage of life in a story that demonstrates the interconnectedness of generations and of all things. In a time gone by, African American Clara begs her mother to "tell me again about the time you hid the key into winter." Her loving mother complies, remembering how, as a child, she threw the key to winter, which hung over the hearth with keys to the other seasons, into the fire so her beloved grandmother might not die with the passing of autumn. Touched with the warm colors of firelight and the icy hues of winter, Soman's paintings capture the little girl's courageous effort to save her beloved relative and her consternation at learning that stopping the arrival of winter would mean there would never be Christmas or spring. An affectionate mixture of fantasy and reality. Stephanie Zvirin

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Library Binding: 1 pages
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807541702
• ISBN-13: 978-0807541708
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,585,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A compelling story with the force of myth, December 21, 1999

By 

Susan Shedd (South Woodbury, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Key into Winter (Library Binding)

THE KEY INTO WINTER opens with Clara begging her mother to tell (one more time) about the time she almost lost forever the key that would turn autumn into winter. As a little girl, Clara's mother hoped that if winter never came, her beloved grandmother would not die. She learns, though, that not only does the order of the world depend on the seasons, but that grandmother herself is eager to move through winter so that she can have one last spring. In simple and powerful language, Janet Anderson addresses many themes: the need for natural order, reconciliation iwth death, the longing to control time and hold fast NOW when it seems so precious, and the powerful inter-generational bonds in a matristic culture. Although the author does not say so explicitly, the constantly recurring constellation of grandmother-mother-daughter is a living representation of the Triple Goddess as Crone, Mother and Maiden. David Soman's gorgeous watercolors illuminate the text with their own beautiful rhythms and depictions of rural African-AMerican family life. The interrelationship of text and pictures makes this an astonishingly powerful book.