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5 Snow Books for Kids Every Elementary Teacher Needs in 2025

A great time to share snow books with your elementary students is during those cold winter months. They are great winter read alouds! I keep my snow picture book collection with my January books. I do this because I find that December is jam packed with gingerbread man read alouds and my holidays around the world unit. February is a short month and has Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day, Presidents Day, and sometimes Leap Year. As a result, January is the perfect month for sharing books about snow and winter.

There are tons of quality winter books for kids out there, which can make it overwhelming to pick out a snow picture book or two to share with your elementary students. I created this list of snow books for kids to make it easier for you!

5 Snow Books for Kids

Below is a list of some of our favorite snow children’s books to share with elementary students. Learn all about them and scoop up the related activities below!

student reading a book about snow

1. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

In The Snowy Day, Peter wakes up and notices that snow has fallen overnight, so he puts on a snowsuit and goes outside. He enjoys the snowy weather as he makes tracks, knocks snow out of a tree, watches a snowball fight, makes a snowman, makes snow angels, and plays on a huge mountain of snow. Before heading back inside, Peter puts a big snowball in his pocket for tomorrow. Later, he finds that the snowball has melted and he is sad until he realizes that the snow outside is still there the next day!

Students will enjoy reading about a young boy doing many of the same activities that they might enjoy on a snowy day. If you need resources to go with this read aloud book, then check out these The Snowy Day activities!

The Snowy Day book cover The Snowy Day book activity
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2. Snow Day by Lester Laminack

In Snow Day, a father and his two kids hear the weather reporter say it’s going to snow. The family gets excited about the possibility of a snow day and begin planning. They can’t wait to build a snow fort, drink hot chocolate, and go sledding. Everyone heads off to bed in anticipation of the big snow storm and a day at home. 

However, when they wake up they are surprised to see no snow outside and children walking down the street with their backpacks on! It didn’t snow after all, and now they are going to be late for school. The family rushes to get ready and into the car. The dad mentions that he cannot be late for school and surprises readers by saying he is the teacher! Students will love this book about a snow day and learn that teachers like them, too!

If you need resources to go with this read aloud book, then check out these Snow Day activities!

Snow Day book cover Snow Day book activity
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3. Snow Globe Family by Jane O’Connor

The book Snow Globe Family tells the story of two families. The big family lives inside a real house and they have a snow globe on their mantle. Inside the globe lives a little family, very similar to the big family. Long ago, there used to be many snow storms inside the snow globe but now it hardly ever snows. However, the baby in the big family is very interested in the snow globe. One day, while some members of the big family are out sledding, the baby makes his way over to the snow globe. He gives it several big shakes, creating a huge snow storm inside the snow globe. In the end, both families get to go outside and have fun sledding in the snow. Students will love this imaginative story about the little family living inside a snow globe.

If you need resources to go with this read aloud book, then check out these Snow Globe Family activities!

Snow Globe Family book cover Snow Globe activity
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4. Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Snowflake Bentley tells the story of a real person, Willie Bentley. Ever since he was a young boy, snowflakes fascinated Willie Bentley. He spent his winters catching snowflakes and studying them. When he got older, his parents bought him a microscope camera so he could photograph the snowflakes. Willie wanted to share the beauty and uniqueness of snowflakes with others. It was not easy to photograph the snowflakes and people in Willie’s town thought he was silly. 

Willie Bentley dedicated his life to studying and learning about snowflakes. Eventually, he published a book with all of his photographs and scientists around the world were interested in his work. When he passed away, the children in his community dedicated a monument and museum to his work. 

If you need resources to go with this read aloud book, then check out these Snowflake Bentley activities!

Snowflake Bentley book cover Snowflake Bentley writing activity
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5. The Snow Dancer by Addie Boswell

This rhythmic tale describes a little girl’s adventure on a snow day. Sofia enjoys the peace and quiet of the silent snow in an empty park. That is, until others come and make a mess with sliding, screaming, and skating. With the help of a new friend, Sofia shows how you can show beauty in the snow. If you need resources to go with this read aloud book, then check our these The Snow Dancer activities!

The Snow Dancer book cover The Snow Dancer activity
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These snow books are great read alouds for the cold wintery months like December, January, and February. Your elementary students will love listening to these and participating in thoughtful conversations around this high-interest topic!

Get All of the Snow Book Activities!

Scoop up all of the activity packets based on the picture books featured in this post!

Or Get All of the Activity Packets for 600+ Picture Books!

Starts with a Story is a collection of hundreds of book companions based on high quality children’s literature that support you in delivering highly-engaging interactive read alouds with follow up activities. Each book companion includes:

  • reading comprehension questions with sample student responses
  • 30 writing prompts targeting 10 different types of writing
  • SEL lesson ideas based on character and events from each story
  • printable student activities
  • editable teaching slides with book-based clipart
  • and more.

Learn how to get unlimited access to all 600+ book companion packets below!

Starts With a Story Collection

Teachers Love these Other Snow Activities for Kids

We have lots of snow activities you can use in your classroom. Check out the blog post Snow Activities for Kids to get more ideas and teaching resources!

Snowmen Would You Rather activities Snowmen book bundle snowman activity packet
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Snowman Color by Code activity snowman in disguise project snowmen graphic organizers
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Snow Globe writing project how to build a snowman writing project
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One Last Thing Before You Go… Grab this Free Reading Resource!

If you want to get more book ideas to read aloud to your elementary students, then grab this reading freebie for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom teachers. It includes:

  • seasonal read aloud books lists for teachers
  • printable reading logs to track students’ reading
  • monthly reading challenges to motivate students to read more

It will have you covered for the entire school year, as well as the summer months! Grab this free elementary reading packet now!

printable monthly reading logs

In closing, we hope you found this list of snow books for kids helpful! If you are a member of Starts With a Story, you have access to all of these book companion activities. Lastly, you may also be interested in these winter books for kids if you love read alouds like us!

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The Recess Queen book cover
Try this free Starts With a Story book companion based on Alexis O'Neill's picture book, The Recess Queen!