As much as there is to love about the sparkle of the holidays, sometimes it’s nice to take a moment to appreciate the quieter aspects of this season.

This week I’d like to call your attention to two picture books — one of which directly addresses the winter solstice, and another which celebrates life’s simple pleasures in a relaxed, imaginative way. Perhaps it’s mere coincidence, but both books employ a similar palette of earthy hues — rich browns, deep blues and rufous reds.

Years ago, when my children were young, we were big fans of Nina Laden’s picture books — “The Night I Followed the Dog” and “When Pigasso Met Mootisse” were two of our favorites. But after my children grew up and flew the coop, I confess I hadn’t paid as much attention to Laden’s picture book output, and I completely missed the publication of “If I Had a Little Dream” when it came out two years ago.

Now seems to be a good time to correct that oversight.

Laden, who lives on an island in the Salish Sea, has crafted a warm-hearted story about the enjoyment that can be discovered in every day. This book features a child who thinks up different ways to appreciate the world she lives in.

Here’s one quick example:

“If I had a little book,

I would name it Friend.

Friend would go wherever I went,

our story would never end.”

Some of the short verses may be a bit raggedy, but the overall effect is encouraging, and nicely complemented by artist Melissa Castrillon’s illustrations, which depict a girl who moves through fantastical landscapes populated with companionable animals. This book is about the limitless power of imagination, and it is a gem.

The other title, “The Shortest Day,” takes a free verse poem by Newbery Medal winner Susan Cooper that is performed annually at winter solstice festivals and converts it into the text for a picture book.

The piece reflects on our long human history of enduring through the tough months of winter. Down through the centuries, Cooper tells us, people have come together on the longest night of the year to sing, dance and burn “beseeching fires all night long” — and then to welcome the sunrise and the promise that “wakens in the sleeping land.”

This book is graced with the work of Caldecott Honor-winning Carson Ellis, a Portland-area illustrator who succinctly captures grim and frosty winter nights in the early pages and, in later pages, the joy of communal celebration.

In our electrified lives, it may be difficult to conceive of the impact that darkness once had on the human psyche. But it’s still out there, and this lovely book about winter’s short days and the reassuring glow of a sunrise is a reminder to pay more attention to the cycles of the days and the seasons and our lives.

The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd McMichael, who writes this weekly column focusing on the books, authors and publishers of the Pacific Northwest. Contact her at bkmonger@nwlink.com

“The Shortest Day” By Susan Cooper, illustrations by Carson Ellis

Candlewick Press – 32 pp – $17.99

“If I Had a Little Dream” By Nina Laden, illustrations by Melissa Castrillon

Simon & Schuster – 32 pp – $17.99