The woods are quiet, the trees are bare. Deer is trying to explain to Squirrel what snow is like, and that it will come soon, but waiting for it is boring. Still, Squirrel is determined to stay awake. Hedgehog and Bear have also never seen snow and join in watching for that first snowflake (and each believe they found it). Waiting for Winter, written and illustrated by Sebastian Meschenmoser is filled with great pictures, fun antics, and one puzzled woodcutter.

Fourteen children are waiting at the train station. They are orphans, heading west, to start a new life with a new family. Marianne is sure her mother will be waiting for her at one of the stops (she did say she was heading out West, after all), but the train makes stop after stop and the other children all find new homes, no one appears for her. Train to Somewhere, by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Ronald Hinter is a beautifully done story of the Orphan Trains that operated between 1850 and 1920.

Reading Hermit With Dog