These melodic words were on my lips throughout my childhood. My mother and father chimed in – whomever was nearest, as I recited my favourite book. It was a melody we sang throughout the day and even as they tucked me in at night.
I can still recite the first five pages or so . . .
Happy Winter, rise and shine!/ I love the early morning time./ My sister snuggles close to me – Two bugs in a rug we laugh and see/ How frosty patterns look like lace –/
Each window has its special face./ We rub the glass – Hey look out there!/ Surprise! Surprise! Snow’s everywhere!/ And everything’s so twinkly bright – / Hooray for the snow that fell last night!
This book creates such a feeling of excitement for winter. The rhythms of the words bounce me throughout the day. The first image displayed here is one from when I lived in Edmonton. I woke up one morning to find a beautiful frosted pattern on my window. My poorly placed window plastic, along with the leaky, old and splintery window as well as the cold and sunny day created the perfect conditions for some intricately formed frosted stars.
The second image is from the last weekend in January, which Z and I spent at the cottage. It was a true cold and wintry weekend up north – unlike the winter we experience here in the big city. We spent our weekend outdoors, cross-country skiing as well as snowshoeing. Our pup Reggie loved tagging along with us. You can see his tracks zigzagging across our ski tracks. Just imagine him bounding through the deep snow, his eyes all bright, tongue hanging out. We plowed along slowly through the deep uncut snow. He would stop, look back and quietly whine – “hurry up now! There’s so much to explore!”
My parents would take their turns reading this book to me each night. I would also take turns with them in reading the lines, or alternate pages – my eyes wide “Dad, can I turn the page and read the next one – the page where they make the chocolate cake?”
We would wake up on a snowy Saturday morning. Mom would be in the kitchen making her cup of black tea. We would both look out the window together . . . “Happy winter!!” “Rise and shine!”
Happy Winter, get-dressed song -/ I wish it didn’t take so long/ To wriggle into old snowsuits./ To lace and hook the rubber boots./ To zip and snap to keep things on/ Or find a glove when mitten’s gone.
My siblings, D, J, and I would clamber towards the front door across the carpet in our sock feet to the cold tile of the front entry. Standing on our tippy toes we would reach up together for the large Rubbermaid container with all the mittens and scarves. It would take us a while to find the appropriate mittens – a matching pair. We would try on various scarves – some would smell funny, “Hey look, it’s Dad’s old red scarf! I’m wearing this one!” We’d waddle outside in our mismatched outfits to try out the GT snow racer on the small hill in the park. If I go further back to the days where the snow piled higher and higher, we would dig out our own form of igloo in the piles of snow created by the plow.
Happy Winter, shout and laugh!/ I’ll be the first to stomp a path/ So follow me – my boots make tracks/ That wind about and double back/ To one smooth place of sparkly snow . . .
This image is from when Z and I went snowshoeing on the final day of our weekend at the cottage. We cut across the field from his uncle’s house and then across the road to an outdoor excursion company’s property. We cut through their trail that went through the cedar bush and over to a vacant property. It was my first time snowshoeing. If we had done this hike without the snowshoes it would’ve been miserable. Instead of slogging through the deep snow, we were able to enjoy the views around us and imagine the possibilities for our future property.
Even Reggie was mesmerized by the views. He was usually the first to “stomp a path”.
Happy Winter, steamy tub/ To soak and splash in, wash and rub./ Big blobs of bubbles pile on me/ The way the snow sits on a tree.
This lonely tree we discovered among all the cedars does have big bubbles all over it like the girl in the tub. The image of the bathtub in this book always fascinated me. I couldn’t help but notice that the tub had FEET! Well, this was some tub! I imagined it walking away with the girl in it, or making it’s way over to the over-sized carpets in the bathroom – you know bathroom floors are quite cold in the winter!
I dream one day of having my own tub with feet! Maybe it will look something like this. Or maybe I will have a huge over-sized carpet in front of it as well and after a long day of adventuring outside I can sprawl all my warm winter clothes all over it and have a warm soak in a footed bathtub.
A Happy Winter day cannot last indefinitely. This book was also the perfect book for my parents to get me to go to sleep. As they would turn to the last three pages, they were completely black, with only the white text on them:
With one last flick it’s dark again./ The big black night is soft and spread/ Just like the quilt upon my bed./ I’m warm and toasty, very snug,/ Then Mama comes for one last hug/ And sings a winter lullaby,
You can see that we read this together many times. The page is now taped in the middle. My mom or dad would start reading this page along with me. They would flick out the light. We knew it by memory. They would slowly walk out the door, peeking their head through as they closed it slowly and said the last words. Then I would close my eyes and fall asleep – my imagination continuing on in its wintry wonderland.
– This post is dedicated to my Mom and Dad.
Netty Dyck said:
Thanks Avery! Brings back lots of happy memories. Love you! Mom
Amanda said:
beautiful… keep on writing
Marnie said:
What a lovely post and memory of childhood. My winter book from childhood was Snow by P.D. Eastman. (I just went looking for it and can’t find it on the shelf. Oh no!)
I actually dropped by here to say you might find today’s Toronto Before post interesting:
http://torontobefore.blogspot.com/2010/02/then-and-now-at-350-danforth-ave.html
averylauren said:
Marnie – I’ll have to check out your childhood winter book. I hadn’t read it before. At least yours is still in print (! I’d like to have another copy of Happy Winter for myself – one that isn’t falling apart. Maybe I can find a used one in good condition. I haven’t heard of “Toronto Before” either. Such a change! Now there’s Ten Thousand Villages!
Amanda – I will keep writing;)
Mom! I’m glad to bring back the memories! I snagged the book from the basement last time I visited you and had to relive it:)
Beth said:
One of the things we left behind in Vermont was our big claw-foot bathtub. I miss it every time I take a bath, and I especially remember looking up from the steamy water in midwinter, toward the skylight covered with snow or ice! hope you get one someday. I feel like we traded: now we have a fireplace in our Montreal apartment, which we never had in Vermont, but just a normal and much-smaller tub.
averylauren said:
Ohh a clawfoot tub with a skylight! That sounds like a great idea! For now we are enjoying a fireplace and a small tub too.
Peter said:
I think nothing would touch my heart more than my daughter writing a piece on how our reading together enriched her life. What a wonderful tribute.
I love comparing Reggie’s picture here with the one from your last previous post. That same cute face and expression, but so much bigger in just a season.
Your place up north sounds wonderful.
Enjoy some more winter while it’s around!
Lisa said:
Lovely memories and vivid moments! The photos are a highlight–I love the window frost you captured (it goes so perfectly with the lines of the book!), and I can never resist a sweet dog’s face covered all in snow! Great post 🙂
heidi said:
hi avery!
just visiting a few sites i found buried deep in my bookmarks and came across your blog once again. oh, how i loved reading this post! my oldest son is now 3 1/2 and reading to him is SO much fun. i love to visit the thrift store in town and peruse their children’s books, often finding one that i remember from my own childhood. i am a firm believer that one can never have too many books (especially children’s books). last night i was on the phone with my mom long distance, trying to describe to her a book i remembered from christmases past, one that we’d pull out along with the christmas decoration box. it was just a simple, little golden book with a variety of christmas themed stories in it, but to me it seemed magical because we only read it one season per year. of course, she had no memory of it, nor knew of its whereabouts, but that won’t keep me from searching for it every time i visit home 🙂
seeing the pages of your favorite winter book made me yearn to look it up on amazon and purchase it for myself! it looks wonderful. there is nothing quite like seeing the wonder of nature through the eyes of a small child.
averylauren said:
Heidi!
It is good to hear from you! I’m sure it is such a pleasure to read to your sons! Children stories are not just for children – I still find them a pleasure to read!
Did you find it on Amazon? I have been searching for a newer copy for myself – my copy is falling apart from all its use!!
Avery
nm said:
I came across your post while trying to find the words to Happy Winter. My mom read it to me when I was a little girl and it’s now out of print. It was my absolute favorite book and today’s frigid weather reminded me of the book. It’s quite funny that people in two totally different parts of the world can have very similar memories, reading this book with their parents. You in England (?) and me in the states. Wow – literature is amazing.
averylauren said:
Yes, that’s neat that you have similar memories of your parents reading it too! I actually live in the same continent:) In Toronto, ON. Glad you stopped by!! Happy Winter!!! I’m enjoying it in the country this weekend!!!
Lisa said:
What a great post! I loved every word! 🙂
averylauren said:
Thanks Lisa!
danie Epp said:
i still quote the first few lines of this book every morning. even when it’s not winter! lol
averylauren said:
Love it:) Rise and Shine!!