Tuesday Storytime; Spring through the Seasons

A trio of very nice books that hit on all the seasons changing, but all with some level of focus on springtime.

Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature

Nicola Davies, illustrated by Mark Hearld

ISBN: 9780763655495

Book of short meditations on natural occurances through the seasons.  

This is a LONG book - it's a large-format picture-book, mostly in spreads (lovely lovely spreads) with about 10 or so rhymes or short lyrical descriptions of events or sights to see in that particular season.  I read one each from Summer, Fall, and Winter, and then read most of Spring (skipping the first set, the sea-gulls, which are more of a summer thing for us, and the lamb's tails, mostly because it was my least favorite, and I had to cut so many for time).  The little short poems or stories are sweet and nature-based, and each is tangible and specific, and grounded in the beautiful large painterly spreads.  Excellent for this age-group in small doses, and would be perfect to use repeatedly through the year as the different seasons come and go.

Listen, Listen

Phillis Gershator, illustrated by Alison Jay

ISBN: 9781846860843

Rounded cameo paintings fill the centers of the pages, with the poem unfolding around the edges.

I like this one, but I had to tape off the last few pages, because it pretty seamlessly merges into a more interactive "seek and find" section at the very end, encouraging readers to search the pages "Where's Waldo"-style to find various animals or items.  The conceit here is using the sounds of each season to make a throughline - which works fairly well for some seasons; summer is all bugs, fall is leaves and nuts, and spring is birds chirping away, but winter was a bit of a reach, and some of the inclusions to make the rhyme scheme work seem a bit forced.  Overall, it's sweet and an interesting approach to sensing the seasons instead of looking at them.

Old Bear

Kevin Henkes

ISBN: 9780061552052

Bear falls asleep and dreams of technicolor fever-dream seasons, before waking into a delightful real spring.

The ONLY objection I have to this adorable book is that the bear comes out of hibernation in the full bloom of riotous spring (for the narrative to work well) and that's not in the least accurate.  Despite that one niggle, this is a beautiful book that showcases dreams and imagination, and reads quickly and clearly.  The colors and stylization of the dream spreads are simply gorgeous, and the bear is roly-poly and fuzzy and adorable.  Excellent length to be either an ending book or a middle book between two not-as-long offerings.