It’s the winter solstice, and in New England we’ve experienced dramatic and devastating ice storms. Many families have been without power for over a week, and some schools have been closed for just as long. Now it’s Hanukkah and Christmas time, and over a foot of fresh powder snow has fallen to blanket the countryside.

Grandchildren (Lily at 4.3 and Isaiah at 9.5) are especially excited to go out into the whiteness in the dark with their Papa to pelt snowballs and build snow forts and castles with ice platters and snow cakes. “It’s really winter!” Lily exclaimed the other night, feeling the enormity one senses when surrounded by the whiteness on the ground with the flakes seemingly falling from the stars themselves, twinkling above in the countryside sky.

When we say grace at table, Lily always gives thanks for “the stars and the moon”—aware of the blessings of the night. I think of how blessed we are to live out in the country where the stars are visible and the vastness of the universe accessible to little souls. But for all our children, a favorite family book has always helped with this sense of wonder. Walk When the Moon is Full, by Frances Hamerstrom with delightful illustrations by Robert Katona (The Crossing Press, 1975), is a classic to add to your library, or to borrow from the public library. It may be hard to find a used copy, but well worth the search! It’s a book about two real children whose parents got them up out of bed once a month when the moon was full for a whole year to see what they could see. Their thirteen adventures (yes, the moon is full thirteen times a year) are fun family reading and might just spur one or two family outings!

Do you have a favorite book or poem about the stars and moon, the snow,
or winter in your part of the world? Please share!