We are continuing our study of Hibernation during Library Time.

Today the children listened to Hibernation by Tori Kosara.  A new understanding for them is that there are actually two kinds of hibernation.

Torpor is a type of hibernation where the animals do not sleep all through the winter.  Raccoons and bears are familiar examples as the children knew that these larger animals often wake up and are looking for something to eat.

Hibernation, in its truest sense, is what animals such as chipmunks, hedgehogs and woodchucks do:  they sleep all through the winter.

A wonderful fiction book that incorporates the elements of non-fiction is Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows and illustrated by Kurt Cyrus.  We have this set as a listening centre with a CD in our classrooms and it is fabulous.  The background music and sounds are really fun.  This book would make an interesting comparison with the non-fiction books the children have been reading.