Rating: 
Summary: One of Heinrich's best, a must-read
Review: Summary:
Naturalist Bernd Heinrich applies his unique blend of science and writing to the many innovative ways in which animals survive winter. Migration and hibernation are famous examples, and Heinrich investigates these phenomena in enough detail so that the reader can appreciate how amazing they really are. He also explores a host of other methods of survival, never allowing us to lose sight of a couple of key concepts that mark the difference between life and death for the untold billions of winter residents. The first is the idea that all behavior and physiology has evolved over the ages since animals first managed to coexist with the strange and frightening conditions that mark the advent of winter. The second is that each individual creature must maintain a positive energy surplus over the cold winter months; all winter survival strategies are predicated on the idea that a creature must stoke its inner fire with energy of some sort.
Along the way, Heinrich interweaves his own experiments and experiences, leaving us with vivid pictures of his encounter with a fatally wounded snapping turtle, and watching a beaver lodge as the sun rises, for example.
The signature winter animal that Heinrich returns to time and again is the kinglet, the world's smallest perching bird that somehow manages to eke out a living despite the fact that it weighs no more than two pennies. The kinglet is a fitting choice for the tireless Heinrich, because he unearths a variety of survival strategies that the kinglet employs, yet still leaves an air of mystery around this amazing bird, whose presence in the cold winter woods is still not fully explained.
The Good and the Bad:
Heinrich's writing remains impeccable. His own enthusiasm for his subjects leaps from every page. In contrast to so many nature writers, Heinrich is someone who derives a spiritual boost every time he walks into the woods, yet doesn't attribute this to any actual spirits. Heinrich is a man of science, first and foremost, and his childlike wonder at each stirring creature destroys the stereotype of scientists who study nature without truly understanding it.
The concepts are explained in simple terms that we can all understand, and I found the mix of science and entertainment to be spot on. The chemical reactions that a bear undergoes while hibernating is educational and interesting; the story of a man who crashes through the ice onto a hibernating polar bear is entertaining.
I have nothing bad to say about this book. Heinrich is at the top of his game, and shows no sign of slowing down.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating introduction to surviving winter
Review: This book brought me into a world of half-formed questions about winter survival, formed the questions more fully, and then explained many of the answers.
I'll leave the answers to Heinrich but here are some questions:
What happens if you and all the liquid in your body freeze solid? (The short answer is that you die.) In light of the short answer, how can any animal survive Maine winters of 30 or 40 degrees below zero? Obviously simple hibernation doesn't keep you from freezing.
What about animals that stay active through the winter? How do they find enough food to generate enough heat to stay warm?
How do plants and animals know when to switch to winter mode? When spring is here? What happens when they're wrong?
How do all these strategies for winter survival interact with one another in a particular habitat? How are tree and bird strategies interwoven, for example?
Heinrich answers these and more. He is a very clear, strong writer, as well as a talented illustrator. He is also fascinated by kinglets, who get more attention than other species in the book, but I must say that even now I do not share that fascination. Though kinglets may not be so fascinating, the book *is*, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Rating: 
Summary: Some of the answers
Review: This book will enable me to answer my grandchildren's questions of what happens to frogs, toads, bees, field mice, to name just a few, in the winter. Mr. Heinrich stuck to the subject and churned out the information; information that satisfies the reader who requires a certain depth of explanation for biological curiosities. The depth in this instance would be Biology 101 at most universities. His writing style is informative and not condescending, I enjoyed the read, it had more human interest tucked in appropriate places than most textbooks.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Animal Adaption
Review: When you ask "what do animals do in winter?" the general answer is "they hibernate." But that is such an inadequate answer as Heinrich shows. The author takes us along into the winter woods of New England as he (and us the reader) discover the survival strategies employed by many inhabitants of the forest. From putting on layers of fat and slowing body functions, to burying in mud or snow, to literally freezing solid and then thawing in the spring, animals have found a much wider range of tactics to survive than we would think. The writing is very accessible, as if Heinrich is giving us small talks in an informal atmosphere. Full of first person experiences and observations, but solidly grounded in science, he leads us into the winter woods to meet these animals and see them in their everyday winter lives. The observations unfold in a series of discoveries which brings the reader along on the trip and helps make the science understandable. I guarantee that you will learn things you had not known before and probably will be surprised at the ingenuity of animal survival. You will not look at the winter woods in the same way again. An excellent journey of discovery.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Animal Adaption
Review: When you ask "what do animals do in winter?" the general answer is "they hibernate." But that is such an inadequate answer as Heinrich shows. The author takes us along into the winter woods of New England as he (and us the reader) discover the survival strategies employed by many inhabitants of the forest. From putting on layers of fat and slowing body functions, to burying in mud or snow, to literally freezing solid and then thawing in the spring, animals have found a much wider range of tactics to survive than we would think. The writing is very accessible, as if Heinrich is giving us small talks in an informal atmosphere. Full of first person experiences and observations, but solidly grounded in science, he leads us into the winter woods to meet these animals and see them in their everyday winter lives. The observations unfold in a series of discoveries which brings the reader along on the trip and helps make the science understandable. I guarantee that you will learn things you had not known before and probably will be surprised at the ingenuity of animal survival. You will not look at the winter woods in the same way again. An excellent journey of discovery.
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