January for Little Ears: Poems of Play, Thaw, and Winter Wonder

January 7, 2020

Today’s Unearthed Words were written to delight small ears and big hearts alike.

Though crafted for children, these verses about January remain an evergreen delight for readers of every age. They remind us that the truest poetry—in the garden or the nursery—does not shout. It hums, giggles, and sometimes laughs in mittens.

Let us, then, step into the month through the eyes of these bright poets, where snow sparkles with mischief and winter is not an end, but a playground.

Winifred Marshall Gales greets January as though the month were a mischievous child, one who refuses to let cold weather dampen joy.

“Little January
Tapped at my door today.
And said, ‘Put on your winter wraps,
And come outdoors to play.’
Little January
Is always full of fun;
Until the set of sun.
Little January
Will stay a month with me
And we will have such jolly times —
Just come along and see.”

Winifred's invitation—simple and irresistible—reminds us that even when the garden slumbers, there is play to be found: snow forts, frosty footprints, the crackle of crisp air.

In her verses, January is not a harsh overseer but a cheerful companion knocking politely at our door.

How delightful to answer!

Meanwhile, Margaret Hillert’s January Thaw is pure tenderhearted magic.

With a single stanza, she captures the fleeting nature of winter’s wonders—the way joy and melancholy often melt hand in hand. The snowman’s tears are not tragedy but transformation, an early whisper that spring will come, and with it, new mirth.

“The sun came out,
And the snowman cried.
His tears ran down
on every side.
His tears ran down
Till the spot was cleared.
He cried so hard
That he disappeared.”

Such gentle lessons—for children and gardeners both—teach us to see beauty even in departure.

Leland B. Jacobs gifts us a vision of January as the keeper of all possibilities—the mighty box-opener of the year.

“January opens
The box of the year
And brings out days
That are bright and clear
And brings out days
That are cold and grey
And shouts, ‘Come see
What I brought today!’”

How fitting: this is the month that offers both brilliance and gloom, the crystalline and the cloudy.

Gardeners will recognize that tone instantly; it is the same mood that greets us when we open seed packets and find both the dream and the dirt together inside.

And at last, the mischievous voice of Maurice Sendak arrives, ladling warmth into rhyme.

His In January bubbles with coziness and kitchen comfort—proof that even icy months can taste of home.

“In January
it's so nice
while slipping
on the sliding ice
to sip hot chicken soup with rice.
Sipping once
Sipping twice.”

There is a whiff of broth and laughter here, a reminder that delight can be cooked, served, and sipped slowly beside the frost-fogged window.

Together, these poems unwrap January as a month of paradoxes: cold yet full of heart, quiet yet brimming with play.

For gardeners and dreamers alike, they whisper the same truth—winter’s stillness is not empty; it simply asks us to look, listen, and let delight surprise us again.

So bundle up, pour the soup, and open your door to Little January—she’s waiting with snowflakes in her hair and poetry in her pockets.