I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea by Janice Milusich, illustrated by Chris Raschka; Anne Schwartz Books, 2025.

A young blind child takes joy in experiencing the seasons through smell, sound, taste, and touch in this lyrical picture book illustrated by two-time Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka in watercolor and oil pastel. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.

Why this book? Why will it matter to kids?

Through the experiences of the main character who is blind (but whose blindness is never mentioned), I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea encourages children to become more fully aware of the wonder of nature and its beauty by drawing attention to using our senses beyond sight.

January is National Braille Literacy Month (The anniversary of Louis Braille’s birthday is the 4th of January.), and February marks Low Vision Awareness Month, so both months offer perfect opportunities to highlight this book.

Why read aloud?

We gather to share a book. We settle into a safe space as we interact with the book. We talk and reflect, exchanging thoughts, exploring concepts, building background knowledge—and community. When read-aloud sessions are routine, children become comfortable voicing their perspectives. They grow in active listening skills and learn to respect the thoughts, feelings, experiences, and beliefs of others. When we (educators, parents, and caregivers) select age-appropriate, length-appropriate stories based on needs and abilities, we offer children the opportunity to see themselves, see others, find validation, and contemplate solutions to conflicts and challenges that they may not have considered.

Read-aloud sessions are inclusive: there is no reading skills or level barrier, and learning obstacles are mitigated by preparation prior to reading the book aloud. In a read-aloud session there is immersion as well as the comfort of distance from the challenges the characters encounter.

Reading aloud engages listeners, offering a positive, secure, stress-free “learning without struggle” experience grounded in a book, the value of which cannot be overestimated.

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.” ~  James Baldwin

Levels and Layers of Learning

Grade level: K—2

Social-Emotional Learning Themes

Acceptance, connection, courage, creativity, curiosity, dedication, diligence, effort,  empowerment, encouragement, fortitude, friendship, generosity of spirit, gratitude, hope, inspiration, integrity, kindness, perseverance, persistence, perspective, relationship skills, resilience, resourcefulness, respect, responsibility, responsible decision-making, self-assurance, self-awareness, self-management, self-reliance, social awareness, tenacity, understanding

Content Area Connections: Social-Emotional Learning; Seasons; Senses

Using This Book in the Classroom

Hit the Ground Running Ready Resources for Educators, Homeschoolers, and Parents

How to pronounce Janice’s last name: MIL-us-ICH

How to pronounce Chris Raschka’s last name (including an interesting story about it!)

How to pronounce the main character’s name: nuh-VAY-uh

Learn more about Janice on her website.

Janice has created an extensive Teacher’s Guide for I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea.

Write Away! Ideas to prompt writing

Reading,  writing, listening, and speaking form the core of literacy. In robust literacy instruction we aid students in strengthening the connections between these fundamental processes. Shared reading—and dynamic conversations about text—strengthens reading skills and leads to meaningful writing. Multiple strategies are employed in the process of gaining meaning from reading (background knowledge, text structure, sequence, detail, cause and effect, visualization, summarizing, synthesizing, perspective, and more) and we utilize these strategies in the process of writing. Reading skills support writing, and writing skills support reading.

“[There is} a deep connection between how students read, write, and communicate, and how they develop socially and emotionally.”  ~  Justina Schlund, Director of Field Learning for CASEL

How would you describe Neveah? What do you like about her? Would she make a good friend? Explain.

Do you know anyone like Neveah? In what ways are they alike?

Throughout the story, the author uses words that help us to hear what Neveah hears, such as buzz!, scruunnch!, scritch-scratch, and thumpity-thump. Which of these sound words is your favorite? Go back through the story and find a scene where you might add a word or two that helps us hear a sound.

Which season description in the book is your favorite? Why?

What is your favorite illustration in the story? Why?

What did you realize from reading about Neveah’s experiences using her senses of taste, touch, smell, and sound?

Find additional writing opportunities suggested on pages 10 and 11 in Jan’s teacher guide.

 Illustration © Chris Raschka

Poetry Break Related poetry to recite before or following the reading of this book

Poetry breaks fit perfectly into the framework of the school day. These brief moments can signal change, smooth or frame transitions—from beginning or ending the day to lining up for lunch; from zipping up backpacks and jackets to shifting from one subject to the next. Poetry breaks can reset mood or tone, providing a moment to pause, reflect, and breathe. Reading a poem aloud typically takes less than a minute, yet it can introduce or reinforce a concept, provide clarity, celebrate language, exemplify rhythm, enhance vocabulary, expand understanding, increase attention span, initiate reflection, spark imagination, or simply summon a giggle. And, poetry soothes and strengthens the spirit.

“Poetry builds resilience in kids and adults; it fosters Social and Emotional Learning. A well-crafted phrase or two in a poem can help us see an experience in an entirely new way.” ~  Elena Aguilar

Poetry Collections About the Seasons to Pair with I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea

• A Child’s Calendar poems by John Updike, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
• All Around the Seasons by Barney Saltzberg
• Calendar by Myra Cohn Livingston, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
• Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems
• Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
• Hi, Koo! A Year of Seasons by Jon J. Muth
• Holiday Stew: A Kid’s Portion of Holiday and Seasonal Poems by Jenny Whitehead
• The Turning of the Year by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Greg Shed
• Douglas Florian’s several poetry collections celebrating the seasons

Recently Released Poetry Collections

• Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher; a picture book ideal for older elementary students and up
• The Book of Candles: Eight Poems for Hanukkah by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Leanne Hatch
• Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins
• Woodpecker Wham! by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins

Make poetry a part of every learning day! Check out  former Children’s Poet Laureate Ken Nesbitt’s extensive Poetry4Kids website, home of funny poems, classic children’s poems, nursery rhymes, games, poetry lessons and activities, videos, a rhyming dictionary, and more.

And Then There’s This…
Enrichment activities, related books, online resources, craft projects, and ideas for further study

View Jan’s  YouTube video created for Paths to Literacy (a collaborative website and blog by Perkins School for the Blind and Texas School for the Visually Impaired and Blind) about using StoryBox materials to help make illustrations more accessible for visually impaired and blind children.

See Jan’s interview on the Writing and Illustrating blog.

Book Collection Suggestions

Reading multiple books on a topic allows for deeper understanding and connection. Students’ knowledge base expands, comprehension increases, critical thinking sharpens, conversations deepen, and writing becomes more meaningful. 

• Pippo’s Perfectly Peculiar Days by Lenny Wen; an excellent book to pair with I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea for its use of onomatopoeia.
• Sometimes You Find a Dragon by Viviane Schwarz; celebrates paying attention to our surroundings and tapping into creativity.

Have a title to suggest? Scroll down to add it in the Comments section at the end of this post.

 Illustration © Chris Raschka

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Meet the Author

Janice Milusich is a children’s author and a teacher for the visually impaired, working with preschool students. Her students and their experiences often inspire her writing. She graduated from Stony Brook’s Children’s Literature Fellowship and Renee LaTulippe’s Lyrical Lab. Her newest picture book is I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea, illustrated by Chris Raschka and published by Penguin Random House. Her other works for children include the picture book, Off Go Their Engines, Off Go Their Lights, and the chapter book series, Cleo’s Big Ideas. Janice has also been published in Spider and Muse magazines. 

Backstory: Q & A with Janice Milusich

I invited Jan to join me this month on Children’s Book Corner after reading her book and learning of her classroom connection to visually impaired children. It’s an ideal choice to shed light on visual impairment, but also to encourage children to be “in the moment” and appreciate their natural surroundings throughout the seasons as well as to foster creativity.

Judy Bradbury: Tell us about this project: What seeded its creation? How did you conceive of the theme/focus of I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea? 

Janice Milusich: The idea for the story that became I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea came about from my experiences working as a teacher for the visually impaired and blind. For the past 17 years I’ve worked with preschool aged children facilitating their exploration, working to scaffold their growing concept development, encouraging their use of compensatory skills including tactual discrimination, identification and recognition, and auditory identification, localization and differentiation, all the while supporting their self-advocacy skills within the classroom and school.

Out of all the grade levels, preschool celebrates the exploration of seasonal changes. While engaged in activities in the classroom, or individually with a child, I encourage my students to explore and question. We share our perceptions and wonder is always a part of those experiences. Some of my favorite sessions occur during classroom push-in sessions when my students and their peers work together and learn from each other’s differing perspectives. That sharing is what I hoped to capture in writing this story.

JB: You are a full-time teacher who also writes for children. Tell us about your writing journey. 

JM: At present, I’m working as a contracted teacher for the visually Impaired at two sites of a Special Education preschool and so it allows me some flexibility, which prior to my book being released let me have some writing time on the days I wasn’t seeing students, and now it’s allowed me to follow up on all the details that go into promoting a new picture book.

My writing journey has been a hard-fought journey to find balance, but it’s that way for many writers with family, children and work responsibilities. It’s been a journey in which perseverance has been a constant.

I’m extremely lucky to have the opportunity to work in a field that I love and it’s an extra special joy to create and publish a story in which the children I teach, children who are visually impaired and blind, can find themselves represented by a confident and spirited character. 

JB: Tell us about a challenge you faced in the creation of I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea, or provide a memorable (or humorous!) anecdote related to the writing of the book. 

JM: The manuscript was originally written in third person, but when Anne Schwartz showed interest in the manuscript, her caveat was that she’d like it revised to first-person POV. I was both excited that she was interested in the manuscript and worried about writing it in first-person POV.

I immediately reached out to one of my first students, who is blind, a writer and poet, and who was my sensitivity reader for the version of the story in third person, to ask her how she felt about me as a sighted teacher for the visually Impaired, writing the story from the POV of a character who is blind. Her support of my writing the story as an experienced TVI was what I needed to get to work. 

JB: What is one unexpected joy that came from the creation of I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea?

JM: I’ve been lucky to experience many joys from the creation of I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea. Two memorable ones have been its inclusion in National Braille Press’s Children’s Braille Book Club for 2026 and its inclusion in the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, Braille Pals Program, also for 2026. Both of those programs use a clear braille overlay on top of the pages of a picture book allowing its accessibility for both print and braille readers.

JB: Chris Raschka, the illustrator of I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea, is a Caldecott Medalist. What is your favorite illustration in the book? Why? 

JM: The illustrations in the book are beautiful. I have a hard time deciding which is my favorite. Overall, I appreciated the subtle way that Chris expressed the main character’s disability with her lack of pupils and also the way he expressed her exploration through each season by making her skin color match the season she was in. What a lovely way to show her absorption in her surroundings.

 Illustration © Chris Raschka

JB: What would surprise readers to learn about you or about the writing of I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea? 

JM: Hmmm…I guess my collection of Converse Chucks! I have them in a rainbow of colors, and they have been my favorite footwear since I was a kid. 

JB: Who do you perceive your target audience to be and why?

JM: Children ages 5-8, their families, teachers, and librarians. In I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea they may experience an increased awareness of the nuances our senses of touch, taste, hearing and smell have to offer us. 

JB: What do you hope young listeners / readers will take away from I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea / What need(s) does this story satisfy?

JM: I hope readers will take away a greater appreciation for what the senses, other than sight, have to offer to their perception of the environment. This story speaks to the need for positive representation and through it I hope that visually impaired and blind children will find themselves represented in a way that empowers their understanding of and exploration of the world around them.

JB: How do you see I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea connecting to curriculum or being used in learning settings?

JM: I’ve created a teacher’s guide, edited with help from my sister, a retired 2nd grade teacher, and in it I’ve provided ways in which classroom teachers could integrate the concepts explored by the main character in the areas of science, math, social studies and English Language Arts. I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea could also be used to increase disability awareness.

JB: If you could ask your young audience a question, what would it be? 

JM: I’ve been fortunate to be able to ask the children who’ve participated in my library and bookstore programs to join in sensory exploration activities that don’t involve the use of sight, and I enjoy asking and hearing their reply to questions such as, “How does it feel to you?” when offered a touch box and asked to explore an unknown object by touch, or “How does it smell to you?” when I’ve offered them a scent jar with an unknown item in it, and finally, “How does it sound to you?” when I’ve played a sound that they don’t expect. I love to see the curiosity in their faces as they think about the attributes of the items. It’s precious.

JB: What project(s) are you currently working on?

JM: Since my picture book was released, my writing time has been curtailed, and I haven’t found a balance between work, promotion and writing, but I am in the process of beginning a story about how a young blind boy navigates the changes that going to school creates in his day to night schedule.

JB: What is one question you wish I had asked, and what is your answer?

JM: I think your questions were thorough and considered. This is one of my first times being on the response side of an author Q&A, and I think you’ve done a fantastic job as an interviewer.

JB: Thank you for joining us, Jan!

Meet the Illustrator of I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea 

Learn more about two-time Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka on Reading Rockets and find him on Instagram.

Other Books by Janice Milusich

Sidebar Spotlight New releases of note

Each month I receive several boxes of books to review from various publishers. As I read and peruse the books, I place them in two piles: those that I will consider featuring on the blog, and those that don’t fit the mission or theme of Children’s Book Corner blog for whatever reason. I highlight books in the “possible” pile on most Mondays on Instagram and Bluesky. Ultimately, I choose the one new release I will feature on my monthly blog post. Yet there are many terrific books I wish I could give a shout-out to, even if I can’t write an entire post about each one. So, Sidebar Spotlight is a means of giving a nod to new releases that, in my opinion, are noteworthy. I’ve linked each title to Bookshop so you can learn more. Happy reading, friends! And feel free to comment on these or other new books in the Comments section at the end of this post.

The Book of Candles: Eight Poems for Hanukkah by Laurel Snuder and illustrated by Leanne Hatch offers a fresh, accessible, and modern look at the meaning and joy of Hanukkah traditions. Accompanied by warm, appealing art, this is a recommended collection for December for Grades 1-3. 

The Birds of Christmas by Olivia Armstrong and illustrated by Mira Miroslavova is an engaging story based on a European folktale about how the robin got its red breast. The art rendered in earth tones complements the story and draws the reader in with its energy and varying perspective. A recommended holiday book for ages five and up.

How To Say Thank You by Jean Reagan and illustrated by Lee Wildish is a recommended read-aloud ideal for November—yes—but also beyond, for its accessibility to the concept of expressing gratitude; Pre-K-Gr 1.

Interrupting Chicken Saves the Nutcracker by David Ezra Stein is a delightfully humorous, expertly crafted package of art and text starring a beloved character. Stein weaves in a synopsis of The Nutcracker, with characteristic poetic license. A game at the end rounds out this recommended holiday book.

White House Secrets: Medical Lies and Cover-Ups by Gail Jarrow (recipient of the YALSA Award in NF for YA for AMBUSHED! and many other awards and distinctions for her other NF titles) is an absorbing, timely look at medical conditions held secret by presidents throughout America’s history, from James Garfield’s “dirty fingers” to Franklin Roosevelt’s “manipulated image” to Joe Biden’s “disastrous debate.” Excellent archival photos and extensive back matter add to the accessible writing style, making this a recommended book. Grades 5-up.

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News, Updates, & Items of Interest

Kesi Augustine’s Faith Takes the Train was a finalist for the 2025 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award. Find my interview with Kesi and resources for using the book on this previous Children’s Book Corner post.

Crayola partners with educators and families to inspire colorful learning through free educational resources, engaging read-alouds/sing-alongs, and easy-to-use hands-on activities. Visit Crayola Learning to see what’s available.

I’m looking forward to participating in Family Literacy Night with Lockport Central School District students and families on January 29th. Find more information about where my books and I will be on my Events page.

You can find me online at Instagram, Bluesky, and LinkedIn where I post about books, book-related items of interest, Little Free Libraries, and occasionally travel (on IG). Connect with me there!

I am currently booking school visits and professional development sessions for the Spring semester of the 2025-26 school year. Find information and contact me to discuss a visit tailored to meet your school’s needs.

Photo credit: Jody LaRose

Readers Theater with props! Cayuga Island Kids Book 2, The Adventure of the Big Fish by the Small Creek

Small and large group presentations

A note  received following a recent school visit:

Thank you so much for coming to meet with my students. You were wonderful, answering their questions and explaining how you wrote the book. We all loved it! Here are some illustrated thank you notes the students made for you. Thank you again!

And here’s a note I received after presenting “SEL-Related Children’s Books with Curriculum Tie-Ins” to teachers and librarians of Grades Pre-K—Grade 6:

Thanks so much for presenting! I heard wonderful things about your workshop! One person mentioned to me that you were so organized and passionate. They also loved seeing all the children’s books you brought with you!

Find my books packaged as a series at your favorite bookseller or purchase directly from the publisher and receive a gift with purchase! Individual titles are also available in hard, softcover, and e-book versions.

Kindness tip: If you read and like a book, consider posting a review on GoodReads, social media, or on Amazon (if you bought it there). Authors and illustrators appreciate the shout-out. Even a one-sentence comment increases visibility of a book. Also consider placing a request with your local library to purchase a copy–another free way to support a book you recommend!

Over to You…

Join the conversation! Offer your thoughts related to this month’s post:

What book about visual impairment or the seasons do you recommend? Share the title, author, illustrator, and suggested age or grade range. 

You are also welcome to post a general comment.

Thanks for sharing!

Final Thought

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