As the cold winter season arrives, how about filling your time with your three-year-old with the warmth of picture books? At this age, children begin to enjoy the flow of a story and their imagination expands greatly.
Here, we’ll introduce picture books that offer winter-specific delights, carefully selected from among many favorites.
Through these books, you can enjoy special read-aloud moments that are unique to this season.
Spend heartwarming time with your child, together with some wonderful winter picture books!
- Books to Enjoy Winter With: Picture Book Ideas to Read with Your Two-Year-Old
- 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
- [For 3-Year-Olds] Recommended for January! A Collection of Exciting and Heartwarming Picture Books
- Winter picture books 1-year-olds will love! A heartwarming collection of read-aloud ideas
- Picture Books to Read with 5-Year-Olds: Recommended Titles to Make Winter More Fun
- Winter picture books that captivate infants: A collection of heartwarming read-aloud ideas
- [For Age 4] Must-Read in January! Picture Books to Enjoy Winter
- Autumn Picture Books That 3-Year-Olds Will Love! A Recommended Collection Perfect for Read-Alouds
- [February] Recommended picture books for 4-year-olds: Works that let children feel winter at preschool
- [For 3-year-olds] Recommended Picture Books to Read in March
- [For 3-Year-Olds] Recommended Picture Books for Spring | Exciting and Thrilling Reads
- [February] Recommended picture books for 2-year-olds: Books that evoke winter and Setsubun
Picture books to read in winter! Story ideas (1–10) that will captivate 3-year-olds
Christmas on December 26
“Christmas on December 26” is a story that takes place after Christmas.
A girl who received a dog from Santa sets out to find him so she can say thank you.
She must have been overjoyed to want to search for someone just to say “thank you”… It’s a work whose pure-hearted childlike sentiment will move adults as well.
Precisely because getting presents at Christmas has become so commonplace today, I hope children will never forget this sense of gratitude.
13 Santas
If you want to choose a Christmas picture book with impact, how about “The 13 Santas”? The characters are 13 mischievous Santas…
or are they? They don’t wear red suits like the Santa we all know; instead, they lick frying pans, bang doors, and do all sorts of quirky things.
They look different from the widely recognized image, but they’re full of personality and really fun.
Set in Iceland, the story also offers a glimpse into people’s everyday lives there.
Enjoy each unique character and be sure to read it together as a parent and child.
New Year’s with osechi (traditional New Year’s cuisine)
Let me introduce you to the picture book Osechi no Oshōgatsu, which conveys the warmth of a cloth book.
As the title suggests, it’s a volume themed around the New Year’s feast, osechi.
Astonishingly, the stacked food box (jubako) turns into a car and drives along the road, picking up the dishes it encounters—like black soybeans and kelp rolls—along the way.
The dishes themselves clearly explain their meanings, too.
Since everything is crafted with needlework rather than illustrated, it offers the luxurious feel of holding a cloth picture book.
The dishes even have little faces, making them absolutely adorable.
Pumpkin Soup Bath
Here’s a humor-filled picture book by Keiko Shibata, famous for the “Bread Thief” and “Polar Bear Picture Book” series.
Even the title—“Pumpkin Soup Bath”—makes you want to read it, doesn’t it? The story follows a trio of best friends—a bear, an alpaca, and a cat—who are walking through the forest with hungry tummies when they stumble upon a pumpkin bath.
There’s a sign saying you may get in but absolutely must not drink it… Still… Well, enjoy the punchline with your child and have a good laugh! It’s a curious picture book that makes you feel all warm and cozy as you read.
Kontoma Yumi-chan
This is a story about Kon, a fox, and a human girl named Mayumi becoming friends.
While Mayumi is roasting mochi inside a snow hut (kamakura), Kon arrives.
He gives a little cough—“kon!”—to announce his presence.
The two quickly become close and promise to meet again the next day.
But the following day, no matter how long Kon waits, Mayumi doesn’t appear…
Centered on friendship and consideration for one another, this work conveys messages we want to share with children, told through a warm narrative and beautiful illustrations.
Six Frogs and a Chilly Night
There are times when you want to sleep but just can’t, right? Kids are full of energy too, and sometimes they just can’t fall asleep even at night.
In this picture book, you’ll meet some frogs who took it so easy that they forgot to hibernate.
You’d think they’d hate the cold, but when they saw snow for the first time, they were thrilled and started playing in it.
Children are sure to be captivated by the adorable frogs and the heartwarming story.
And if they copy the frogs and play in the snow, they might sleep soundly at night.
Aokun Fukuchan
Speaking of Setsubun, it’s the event where ogres show up…
As February approaches, children might be getting nervous with excitement.
In this picture book, Ao-oni the blue ogre and Fuku-chan, the god of good fortune, make an appearance.
It seems the two of them are talking about switching the roles of ogre and fortune.
With a heart-thumping, exciting turn of events, children may forget their fear and simply enjoy the story.
Rather than a typical holiday-themed picture book, this one shines for its engaging narrative, and I highly recommend reading it as Setsubun draws near.