The Story of the First Snowdrops

A nature myth from The Book of Nature Myths, by Florence Holbrook

This nature myth comes from Florence Holbrook's 1902 collection, The Book of Nature Myths. It explains how the first snowdrop flowers came to be, imagining winter as an old man and spring as a joyful youth. The two meet and compare their powers—winter can freeze rivers and cover the earth with snow, while spring can melt ice and bring birds and green leaves back. When spring arrives in the morning, winter disappears and becomes the first snowdrops, the only flowers that can remember winter. This story helps a child see the changing seasons as a contest between two characters, and it gives a magical reason why snowdrops bloom so early, when winter is barely gone.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readers, about 4 to 5

Length

short · about 374 words in 6 sections · 4 pictures

Source

The Book of Nature Myths, Florence Holbrook · Project Gutenberg

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (6 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.