What happens to leaves and flowers, caterpillars and songbirds, field mice and fish, and other living things “when winter comes and the cold wind blows”? In a series of lyrical question-and-response verses, Nancy Van Laan conveys some of the ways the natural world changes when the cold and snow arrive. Her text is a gentle song for the season. Gaber’s subdued palette captures the transformation wrought by the first heavy snow. A loving family explores this changing world. The two adults and their child could be many families: dark-eyed and dark-haired with olive-toned skin, a child that could be boy or a girl, and adults that could be a woman and a man or two women. The small child--clearly loved, and full of nurtured wonder--is the center of the story. Children will understand this from the very beginning, even though the text only implies it until the very end, when the author asks, “Where oh where does our little one go / when winter comes and the cold winds blow?” Highly Commended, 2001 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 3-6)

In the voice of an unforgettable heroine, V.A. Shannon explores one of the most harrowing episodes in pioneer history--the ill-fated journey of the Donner Party--in a mesmerizing novel of resilience and survival.

Mrs. Jacob Klein has a husband, children, and a warm and comfortable home in California. No one--not even her family--knows how she came to be out West thirteen years ago. Jacob, a kind and patient man, has promised not to ask. But if she were to tell her story, she would recount a tale of tragedy, mishaps, and unthinkable choices--yet also sacrifice, courage, and a powerful, unexpected love . . .

1846: On the outskirts of Cincinnati, wagons gather by the hundreds, readying to head west to California. Among the throng is a fifteen-year-old girl eager to escape her abusive family. With just a few stolen dollars to her name, she enlists as helpmate to a married couple with a young daughter. Their group stays optimistic in the face of the journey's hazards and delays. Then comes a decision that she is powerless to prevent: Instead of following the wagon train's established route, the Donner Party will take a shortcut over the Sierras, aiming to clear the mountains before the first snows descend.

In the years since that infamous winter, other survivors have sold their accounts for notoriety and money, lurid tales often filled with half-truths or blatant, gory lies. Now, Mrs. Klein must decide whether to keep those bitter memories secret, or risk destroying the life she has endured so much to build . . .