Books to Enjoy Winter With: Picture Book Ideas to Read with Your Two-Year-Old
On a cold winter night, why not spend a cozy picture book time indoors with your two-year-old? In this season, picture books featuring snow and winter scenes have a special charm.
Especially for two-year-olds, it’s an important time to learn words and expand their imagination through books.
Here, we’ll introduce a variety of heartwarming picture books perfect for two-year-olds in winter.
Please use this as a guide to create wonderful seasonal memories through stories that both children and adults can enjoy!
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- [February] Recommended picture books for 2-year-olds: Books that evoke winter and Setsubun
- Winter picture books that captivate infants: A collection of heartwarming read-aloud ideas
- A special feature of recommended picture books for Christmas that will captivate 2-year-olds!
- [For 2-year-olds] Recommended picture books to enjoy reading in January
- Picture Books to Read with 5-Year-Olds: Recommended Titles to Make Winter More Fun
- Picture Books to Read with 4-Year-Olds in Winter: Heartwarming Recommended Stories
- [February] Picture books for 3-year-olds with themes of Setsubun and winter
- [February] Recommended picture books for 4-year-olds: Works that let children feel winter at preschool
- [February] Picture books for 1-year-olds: books that evoke winter and Setsubun
- Toddlers will love it! A fun picture book selection to enjoy the feeling of autumn
- [For Age 4] Must-Read in January! Picture Books to Enjoy Winter
Books to Read with Two-Year-Olds! A Collection of Picture Book Ideas to Enjoy Winter (21–30)
brown bear
From autumn to winter…
and then spring.
This is the story of a brown bear mother and her cub, told alongside the changing seasons.
In autumn, brown bears eat plenty of nuts and fruit; when winter comes, they spend their time in a den—and that’s when new life is born.
What might the cub feel as it bursts from the dark den into the warm, vivid world of spring? The illustrations, rendered mainly in black, are a bit distinctive, yet they also convey a certain warmth.
Bears are popular animals among children, so I hope this picture book offers a glimpse into a bear’s life.
Surprise kotatsu
A warm fixture that appears in winter and is so cozy you can’t bring yourself to get out…
the kotatsu.
Falling asleep under the kotatsu and catching a cold is a classic winter scenario, isn’t it? This picture book features the kotatsu as its theme.
It’s a lift-the-flap book: when you flip back the quilt, you’ll find all sorts of things—cats, thieves, ghosts, and more.
There are clues visible before you lift the flap, so you can enjoy a guessing game, too! A perfect book to brighten winter read-aloud time, full of excitement as you wonder what will appear next.
Ideas for picture books to enjoy winter with your 2-year-old (31–40)
Speaking of winter…
This is a book where you can enjoy all sorts of things related to winter.
Speaking of snowmen? Cold hands.
Speaking of cold hands? Mittens… and so on, like a word-association game.
With each page you turn, you can feel winter from different perspectives.
It’s a small picture book just the right size for babies and toddlers, so they can turn the pages themselves and have fun.
The simple illustrations are easy to understand, making it a great first seasonal picture book for winter.
After reading, try finding lots of wintry things around the house or on a walk.
Look closely at the pure white snow.
This is a counting picture book I highly recommend for babies.
Its charm lies not only in helping little ones get familiar with numbers, but also in the flocked illustrations of rabbits that offer a soft, fuzzy texture to touch.
The fluorescent-colored animals that stand out against a world of white and gray, along with the shimmering snowflakes, are strikingly vivid.
Every page turn brings a new delight, drawing in the adults reading along as well.
The design is stylish, too—leave it open for display and it could even serve as interior decor.
Mole-kun and Winter
The picture book Mole and Winter features an inquisitive little mole.
Thinking it was snowing, Mole took out his sled—but it turned out not to be snow at all, but frost.
So Mole asks the clouds to let it snow.
Can they really do that? If you give them some water to drink, they grant his wish and make it snow.
It’s a dream-filled tale that’s sure to delight children.
With its clear, simple story, even very young kids can enjoy it.
Mocchiin
Let me introduce the picture book “Mocchiin,” packed with the fun and deliciousness of mochi.
The first page shows a mochi-pounding scene using a mortar and pestle.
It also teaches various tasty ways to enjoy mochi, such as with seaweed, kinako, and natto.
The adorable illustrations feature mochi with little faces, and the vertical page layout beautifully expresses mochi stretching.
When children hear the countdown—3, 2, 1—they’ll likely say “Mocchiin!” and strike a stretching pose along with the mochi.
Just imagining it is absolutely adorable, isn’t it?
The mountain bathhouse
The picture book “Yama no Ofuroyasan” is set in a mountain bathhouse.
All sorts of animals come to the bath in the mountains—monkeys, wild boars, and… huh? Even a snowman shows up! You can’t help but worry: won’t it melt if it gets in the hot water? So, what will happen to the snowman? The surprising secret of the bath at the end is delightful, and you’ll finish the story with a smile.
It’s a perfect book to read aloud before a cozy winter bath.