by Danielle Ziegler

When I was a kid growing up in the 90s, we didn’t have air conditioning at home. Instead, during long, hot summer days, my sister and I joined our friends in activities meant to make us feel cooler.  We saw many matinees at the movie theater, spent hours hanging out at our library, and watched and read things meant to make us cold.  Kids can still do that during the summer with the Ames Public Library. Check out these cold and snowy books!

One of my absolute favorite picture books, “Big Snow” by Jonathan Bean is set while a young boy anxiously waits for a blizzard.  Another recent picture book about finding snow is called “Snow Angel, Sand Angel” by Lois-Ann Yamanaka. Set in Hawaii, this book follows a young girl who is upset that she has never seen snow. She and her family soon set off to find some!

Kids who are just starting to read on their own can find some cooling books too! One that kicks off with a very snowy day is called “Chicken in Mittens” by Adam Lehrhaupt.  Kids will love this silly tale of a group of farm friends who use a snowy day to pretend to go to the North Pole.

An early chapter book with some cold weather is “Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus” by Atinuke. In this wonderful family tale, Anna Hibiscus leaves her home in Africa for the first time to spend the holidays in Canada with her granny! Her mom tries to prepare her, but what will she think of snow?

Kids who are looking for a really exciting chapter book should check out “Storm Treasure” by Marie McSwigan. Said to be based on a true story, it’s set in Norway during WWII. In it, kids smuggle the Norwegian gold reserves right out from under the Nazi soldiers’ noses by using their sleds!  It’ll definitely cool you down as you read.

Teens can cool themselves down through reading too. Try “Whiteout: A Novel” about twelve teens who are dealing with a blizzard in Atlanta right before Christmas. This book was written by an all star group of authors including Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon.

So don’t fear if you don’t have AC this summer! Instead, pick up some cool books for all ages here at the Ames Public Library.