Once Upon a Winter Day

A boy learns that nature is full of stories to tell when he finds and follows a mouse’s tracks in a wintery wood.

Milo wants a story, but his mom is too busy to entertain him. Instead, she encourages him to go out and play in the snow. At first, Milo is disappointed – he doesn’t want to play outside, he wants a story.

But when he starts to follow a trail of mouse-prints, he discovers signs of activity all around, prompting him to ask, “What happened here?” Before long, he’s using his imagination — depicted in lush wordless spreads that capture the vividness of Milo’s fantasies — to fill in the gaps. By the time Milo comes home, he’s the one with stories to tell.

A must have for the winter season, Liza Woodruff’s Once Upon a Winter Day is a fun read-aloud that shares details about animal behavior from a child’s perspective.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
An NCTE Notable Verse Novel
A Charlotte Huck Recommended Book
A Mighty Girl Best Book of the Year
A Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection