Winter author study of Jan Brett

Jan Brett is a children’s picture book author and illustrator famous for her evocative illustrations and intricate borders, usually with stories that are folklore or northern European in origin. Her writing tells a story, and so do her illustrations, especially the borders. Many of her stories are about winter and Christmas. Let’s dive into those books, in particular.

Read these winter and holiday beautiful picture books–then try the fun activities! Happy holidays!

The Mitten
The Mitten is Jan Brett’s most popular, best-selling picture book. It’s the story of a girl’s lost mitten the animals find. But what will each animal do with a mitten? A sweet and clever story.

Notice the illustrations on the borders.
Count up the animals in the story.
Print out these mittens. Talk about symmetry and matching. Decorate one mitten to match the other. Punch a hole in the bottom of both and join with a string.

Wild Christmas Reindeer
Teeka must train the reindeer before Christmas Eve. But her enthusiasm makes her yell and be unkind which doesn’t work. She learns that kindness will be much better to help them cooperate.

Make reindeer bags with reindeer food.
The names of the reindeer in this story are different than the more familiar names. Which ones do you like? What would you name your reindeers?
Reindeer crafts here.

Gingerbread Baby
It’s too soon to open the oven, so the Gingerbread man is a baby…who runs away. When Matti’s family and friends chase after the baby, Matti has a better idea…to make a gingerbread house for the baby!

Make gingerbread cookies into different figures – girl, boy, cat, dog and so on.
Retell the gingerbread story using your cookie as the main character. Invent new scenarios.
Print out Brett’s animal masks to reenact the story.

The Snowy Nap
It’s winter, and Hedgie is supposed to hibernate. But he tries to stay away for the fun winter his friends tell him about. Can he experience the fun of winter, even in a snowstorm?

Build an animal den (directions from Fun-A-Day here)
Make a winter animal with paper toilet rolls (directions here)

Home for Christmas
A little troll doesn’t want to do his chores. So he runs away! But, he realizes after some time in the woods, that there’s no place better than home. He returns just in time for Christmas.

Read more fairy tale books
Read more Christmas books

Jan Brett’s Christmas Treasury
This Jann Brett collection of picture book stories features these lovely stories: The Night Before Christmas, Trouble with Trolls, Christmas Trolls, The Mitten, The Hat, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and The Wild Christmas Reindeer.

Brett’s website includes a ton of activities and coloring pages.

About Jan Brett

Jan Brett has 42 million books in print, according to her publisher, Penguin Random House. She decided to become an illustrator as a child and studied at Moston Museum School. Jan Brett often travels to research her stories so she can understand the architecture and attire of the region.