Winter Waits [Hardcover]

Lynn Plourde (Author), Greg Couch (Illustrator)

Book Description

Winter sprints
across the way.
"Father, Father,
come on, let's play."

Father Time smiles
and kisses his son.
"Not now, I must work,
my littlest one."

So Winter waits
for an hour or two,
painting the grass
with a frosty hue...

While Winter waits for his father, he finds ways to amuse himself. Winter "whistens and glistens" the world in frost, "whizzles and whittles" ice sculptures, and "snizzes and snips" snowflakes. At last, Father Time turns his full attention to his son, and they "frisk and frolic away."

Lynn Plourde, author of the best-selling picture book Wild Child, reunites with acclaimed illustrator Greg Couch to continue the story of Nature's family with this exquisite book that captures the joy of a father-son relationship.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Plourde and Couch pick up where they left off with the autumnal Wild Child, this time featuring a boy who personifies winter. The fantasy is more complex and abstract than the previous title and may well puzzle more than challenge or entertain youngest readers. When small Winter in his Wee Willie Winkle hat wants his father's attention, Father Time answers, "Just a minute, big guy./ My work's not done." His father ignores him until Winter presents him with a spectacular snowflake, at which point Father Time, with a "tear in his eye," agrees to play. As he gives Winter a goodnight kiss, he acknowledges the lesson he's learned about making time for his son. Couch's frosty paintings are both dazzling and inventive. Wheels and clock parts surround Father Time's cubist moon face; stars and planets encircle his head like a halo. But the arresting images and sophisticated artwork may be as confusing to youngsters as the text. Unfortunately, Plourde's problematic story seems to suggest that the only surefire way a child can get his father's attention is to impress him. Despite the use of playful nonsense words that fill out the rhythm (father and son "wristle and wrestle" and they "rizzle and romp"), the book's message seems addressed more to workaholic fathers than to children. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-When Mother Earth sees Winter bouncing on the bed, she sends him off to find Father Time, who says that he is too busy to play. Winter finds ways to pass the time: painting the grass with frost, carving ice sculptures, and cutting out snowflakes. When Father Time's work is done, the two wrestle in the sky, causing a blizzard below. As father and son settle in for a cozy nap, Mother Earth tiptoes past, on her way to wake up Spring. Plourde's rhyming text flows well and the language trips off the tongue: "He snizzes and snips/lacy designs./Sprools and sprinkles them/on meadows and pines." However, Couch's sumptuous illustrations are the real attention-grabbers here. Using acrylic paint and colored pencils, the artist creates a beautiful frosty landscape out of deep blues, purples, and whites. Each small touch, from Father Time's half-night/half-day face to Winter's impishly pointed icicle of a nose, adds to the otherworldly feel of the artwork. Anyone who has ever recognized the quiet magic of a snowy day will feel right at home with these atmospheric paintings. A lovely mood piece about a perennially popular topic.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, Eldersburg, MD

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; 1st edition (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689832680
• ISBN-13: 978-0689832680
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #874,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Story of Nature's Family Continues, November 6, 2000

By 

Lynn Plourde (central Maine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter Waits (Hardcover)

As the author of this book, I was excited to continue the story of Nature's family. In the first book, WILD CHILD, Mother Earth tried to get her reluctant daughter, Autumn, to sleep. She finally succeeded, only to have Winter wake up and bounce on the bed. In WINTER WAITS, Mother Earth sends her son Winter off to see his dad, Father Time. Winter begs his dad to play with him, but Father Time is too busy working (setting the clocks to start the New Year), and so Winter must wait. While Winter waits, he paints the world in frost, carves an ice sculpture, and "snizzes and snips" snowflakes. When Winter brings his dad the most beautiful snowflake that he cut out, Father Time finally stops working so they can play. Father and son jump up to the sky and have a pillow fight with the clouds, creating a blizzard: "They wristle and wrestle, frisk and frolic, scuffle and scamper away. They snigger and snicker, rizzle and romp, chuckle and chortle till day." Father Time and Winter cuddle in a snowdrift and fall asleep. Then Mother Earth reappears--after all, Spring mustn't over sleep.

I enjoyed imagining this next part of Nature's family adventures, but the illustrator, Greg Couch, has done an amazing job of personifying the characters of Winter and Father Time. Winter is a playful imp with snowflake eyes and icicle hair. Father Time is a composite of visual time references--sun dial, shadows, moon phases, constellations (A fun and challenging activity for kids would be for them to find all the visual time references in Father Time--and then learn how they each help us to tell time).

I hope that readers enjoy this continuing journey through the seasons and that they may always have the gift of time!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful art work, wonderful words, November 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Winter Waits (Hardcover)

I first discovered Lynn Plourde and Greg Couch's book Wild Child serveral years ago and loved reading it to my multi-age primary classroom students. The children also created delightful portraits of "Wild Child". I loved the way Wild Child suggested that a sibling would be coming along and, sure enough, here comes Winter! Winter Waits is equally beautiful and depicts a tender father/child relationship not unlike the Mother/child relationship in Wild Child. My students remember these books and look forward to reading them every year. We can't wait for Spring's arrival!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful for all ages!, March 12, 2002

By 

Lissa "starcrossedlady" (Long Beach, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winter Waits (Hardcover)

I fell in love with Wild Child when reading this to my children... so as soon as I saw Winter Waits, we immediately snapped it up, and was not dissapointed. Lynn Plourde's wonderful wordplay tickles the ears when read aloud, and Greg Couch's beautiful illustrations have many subtle layers to explore and talk over with children. This book is geared mostly towards the beginning reader set: However, being a prospective teacher, I can fully see myself reading Winter Waits and the companion books to a third grade level, for fun a well as to teach them about freestyle poetry, and how words can be used for description (perhaps sparking a budding writer?). I cannot recommend this book enough!