Through The Four

For those fortunate enough to live in an area experiencing all four seasons, in the northern hemisphere spring seems to have finally arrived.  There have been several mornings in the last ten days without frost on rooftops.  Grass is greening and growing. Tiny buds are appearing on shrubs and trees.  Shoots are pushing through the soil in gardens and forest floors.  The first flowers of spring from bulbs like daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, or crocus are blooming.  The birds are back with all their various melodies.  The sun is rising earlier and setting later.  And we are experiencing warmer than normal temperatures.

All living things are embracing this change.  People of all ages are outside biking, walking, and working in their yards and gardens.  You can hear the sound of children talking and laughing as they ride their scooters or shoot basketballs at a neighbor's hoop.  A wonderful new title to help us enjoy this spring and the other three seasons is My Big Book Of Outdoors (Candlewick Studio, an imprint of Candlewick Press, March 29, 2022) written and illustrated by Tim Hopgood.  It is a lively look at spring, summer, fall, and winter and all each season has to offer.

On the title page, beneath the title text it reads:

Welcome! In every season, there is something different to see, discover, make, and do.  So step outdoors and into nature.

Following the title page, two pages are dedicated to an extensive table of contents with page numbers.  For each season's introduction a double-page picture provides a place for listing, on the left, six phrases, observations about that season.  The next two pages are devoted to 

Signs Of_________.

 

For those up at sunrise in the spring, we are given descriptions of six birds we might see or hear.  We are asked to notice birds building nests.  This is followed by an activity where we can create our own nest out of chocolate.  (Yum!)  Eggs and feathers of birds are later discussed.

We explore bugs, building a bug hotel, soil we can see and soil we can't see.  Do you know how a tadpole becomes a frog?  Can you tell the difference between a frog and a toad? Have you ever been pond dipping?

During summer, the insect populations explode.  We are given pictures of fifteen insects with their names.  How many have you seen?  Do you know how an egg turns into a butterfly?  You can enjoy painting your own butterfly before eight butterflies are displayed and identified.

Bees and their purpose are disclosed.  Dandelions, sunflowers, and daisies are a part of our explorations and things to do.  Fruits and vegetables of summer are portrayed and labeled.  For those near an ocean or sea or those who make a trip to either, what can you discover in a tide pool or along the sandy shore?

The signs of autumn most visible are the changing colors of leaves.  We can still distinguish between eight leaves by their shapes.  Trees shed seeds which the fall winds carry.  (Our area has a gazillion maple seeds now sprouting in lawns and gardens.)  Squirrels are getting ready for winter building shelters and storing food.  We are presented with two thoughtful pages on the power of a single acorn.  

Fruit is being harvested and used in delicious recipes like baked apples.  How many apples can you name?  If you look to the skies you can see birds leaving on their annual migration routes and cloud formations predicting the weather.

As the chill of winter descends, some birds stay the course.  Which ones of those shown are in your area?  Winter walks in snow reveal tracks of wild travelers.  I spy deer and rabbit prints of the six shown.  Two pages show a dormouse and a hedgehog hibernating.  Some facts about each are shared.

Do you know the name of trees which retain their leaves regardless of the season? Five conifers are represented as well as seven different pine cones.  Did you know pine cones are natural humidity detectors? Four pages speak about snow and snowflakes along with an activity.  To close out the section on winter we look to the skies again, studying stars and the phases of the moon.

The enthusiasm Tim Hopgood has for this subject is evident in every chosen word and every written sentence.  Although the specific topics covered in each season vary, their presentation is similar enough to create a pleasing and welcoming rhythm for readers.  There are the previously mentioned introductory phrases, the signs of pages, topics and matching activities and several poems.  These are woven together seamlessly in each season through informal and informational conversations and abundant labeling.  Here is a passage and a poem.

Cool Places

Stones block out wind and

sunshine and keep the ground

cool, dark, and damp---the

perfect place for insects to

live.  Insects with hard shells

can push under stones to find

food and shelter.

Splish Splash!

Plip

plop

plip-plip-plop

pitter-patter

pitter-patter

drip, drop

splash!

Pitter-patter

pitter-patter

drip, drop

splash!

Drip-drop

drip-drop

drip

drip

stop!

The bright turquoise blue sky stretches from flap edge to flap edge on the open dust jacket.  Swirls of startling white clouds are spread across that sky.  The vivid splashes of color seen in the insects and flowers (butterfly on the right and ladybug on the left) also extend to the flap edges.  The ladybug on the left is flying above a large, colorful cluster of flowers.  The ISBN is placed in the center of a white flower.  The title text is varnished.

On the book case it is as if we are looking at a natural exhibit.  The background is dark in hues of blue and green and black.  From left to right on the open case, we are presented with an egg, ladybug, snowdrops, sea creatures, leaves, a butterfly, an acorn, a feather, a snowflake, a mushroom, a pinecone, a moth, a snail, worms, and another kind of nut.  The ISBN is placed inside a white leaf.

On the opening and closing endpapers, on a canvas of pristine white, is a close-up of a honey bee.  It is flying over a gorgeous array of flowers.  They are turquoise, pink, white and yellow, orange, and yellow.  Bits of green appear toward the bottom.  On the verso and title pages is a two-page image.  It is a close-up of grasses and a leaf.  Featured are a snail, an ant, a ladybug, and a caterpillar.  The dedication reads:

For everyone who stayed

indoors in 2020

Using 

mixed media

every page turn depicts either a two-page picture or a single-page visual.  Tim Hopgood takes us close to a topic such as his conversation about ants.  Here we are viewing their activities via a cross-section.  In support of a sentence and a question in the section about fall, we are privy to a forest landscape.  Many different types of flora and fauna are present in this vista done in warm shades of autumn.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the Signs of Winter section.  It is a two-page picture.  There are white and black silhouettes.  Evergreen boughs, tree trunks, shrubs, and spider webs are in frosty white.  There are several black tree trunks.  On the left side is a winter sky with brighter stars.  A black bird rests in branches covered in red berries.  On the right side, snow swirls.  An icy blue area indicates a frozen pond.  This is a marvelous collage of winter wonders.

Not only is My Big Book Of Outdoors written and illustrated by Tim Hopgood brimming with information, activities, and stunning artwork, but it is an ode to nature.  Your appreciation for the outdoor world will grow with every supplied observation.  You will want to have a copy in both your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Tim Hopgood and his other work, please access his website by following the link attached to his name.  At his website, there are many images from this book to view.  Tim Hoppgood has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At Penguin Random House, you can view interior illustrations.

Sensing A Season

Today marks the passage of one full week of summer.  Even while celebrating the longest day of the year, the additional sunlight, warmth, abundance of wildlife and vacation adventures, our days are starting to get shorter.  We've lost nearly a full minute of daylight in these seven days. 

With the time lessening each day, there is only one thing to do.  We need to make the most of this season.  Super Summer: All Kinds Of Summer Facts And Fun (Henry Holt And Company, May 7, 2019) written by Bruce Goldstone with some of his photographic images, too, is a guide to enjoying every marvelous moment. 

SUMMER 

IS A 

SUPER SEASON

OF

PLENTY.

In summer there's plenty

of sun and plenty of fun.

Fields are filled with plenty of 

flowers, fruits, and vegetables.

Animals have no trouble finding

plenty of food.

Although we rarely think about it, summer means we are crossing off days on the calendar toward the autumnal equinox.  On this day, twelve hours of twenty-four are given to day and to night. Until then more heat from the sun means we need to protect our eyes and skin and stay cool.  Drinking plenty of water is one solution.  Animals can help to cool themselves by panting, shedding unnecessary fur, hiding in cooler areas in their habitats or even by practicing estivation.  This state of dormancy offers protection during extended heat and lack of rain.

In thinking about summer, how does it feel to you?  How does it touch you?  How do you touch it?  Gardeners tend to brilliant-colored annuals and perennials.  These flowers are sheer pleasure for pollinators who drink the nectar and help reproduction.  Sunflowers, before they're fully developed follow the sun from east to west. 

We enjoy a bounty of fruits and vegetables.  What is your favorite summer food?  Is it cool, sweet, spicy, sticky or juicy?  

Insects flourish in the summer.  It's a good idea to be aware of those that bite and sting.  Other critters are bright, nearly always in motion and have spectacular abilities; the chirping of crickets, the blinking of fireflies and the magical water striders.

As the narrative continues, we are challenged to point out different geometric shapes, listen for sounds more often heard in summer and to think where we would go on a dream vacation.  We are encouraged to participate in activities in the water, on land and in the air.  As the days pass into months, holidays are highlighted until we start thinking about school days and the falling leaves of fall.

When we read this chronicling of the summer season written by Bruce Goldstone his enthusiasm for opportunities is conveyed to readers.  It begins with his use of the word plenty.  There is more of everything in the summer. 

Within each two pages he starts with a single thought.  He supports this by following with several facts which might be a single sentence or a paragraph.  He moves easily from heat to cooling to our sensory perceptions, and then focusing on flora and fauna.  He asks us to be constant observers and doers.  Here is a passage.

YOUNG

SUNFLOWERS

FOLLOW THE

SUMMER SUN.

Some plants follow the sun during the day.  This process

is called heliotropism.

Young sunflowers move their blossoms to face the sun as it

moves from east to west each day.  When a sunflower is 

growing, each side of its stem grows at different times.  . . .  

The lush yellows on the matching dust jacket and book case are sure to have readers wondering what treasures are to be found inside.  It is now when butterflies are seen at work among the flowers.  (This is currently prevalent in gardens and fields in northern Michigan.)  The other primary color of the title text like water in a pool or lake adds to the lure of summer.

To the left, on the back, summer scenes are placed like a frame around a beach scene.  The words

A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT ALL THE

SENSATIONS 

OF SUMMER 

is tucked in the sky.  The first three title covers for the other seasons are placed in the sand.

A luminescent yellow colors the opening and closing endpapers.  The front of the jacket and case is repeated on the title page.  Throughout the book double-page photographs, in a variety of perspectives ask for our attention.  At times smaller images will be placed on these larger visuals.   The shift in point of view noted with the collage effect of the layout increases interest and exploration.  Shapes associated with summer will frame some of the pictures; sun with rays, waves, flowers, circles like bubbles, leaves, butterflies and postcards.  In addition to photographs taken by the author, visuals are used from Shutterstock and Adobe Stock.  Whenever possible children from diverse backgrounds are shown throughout this title.

One of my many favorite images is a collection on a large two-page picture of a sunny summer field.  On top of this on the left is a bright red flower with a Monarch butterfly on the petals.  To the right in circles readers are brought in close to see a labeled stamen and pistil on a flower and to see a group of honeybees working on another single flower.  

The fourth book in the series, Super Summer: All Kinds Of Summer Facts And Fun written by Bruce Goldstone with some of the photographs his own, is sure to inspire even more excitement for this season and increase an appreciation for all the possibilities.  As in the previous titles, Awesome Autumn: All Kinds Of Fall Facts And Fun, Wonderful Winter: All Kinds Of Winter Facts And Fun and Spectacular Spring: All Kinds Of Spring Facts And Fun, Bruce Goldstone closes with a series of crafts and activities along with instructions for their completion.  I highly recommend this title and this series for your professional and personal collections for the presentation of the information and images.  Readers are certain to be engaged.

To learn more about Bruce Goldstone and his other work, please access his website by following the link attached to his name.  At the publisher's website you can view several interior pages. 

From Flora

As winds howl sending snow swirling into drifts, reading transports us to other places in other times.  While most of nature is at rest, within the pages of books, we look to the seasons which follow.  That which is asleep will awaken.  Where there is no life, new creations will emerge and flourish, coming back full circle to winter.

The beauty displayed by the flora during most seasons in our world can and is preserved for study and art. Drawn from Nature (Big Picture Press, an imprint of Candlewick Press, March 13, 2018) written and illustrated by Helen Ahpornsiri is an informative and breathtaking display of animals and plants in spring, summer, autumn and winter.  For each season our attention is focused on six to eight special elements, all meticulously formed from petals and leaves.

Introduction
Life in the wild doesn't stay still for long.
Year after year, plants bloom in spring and fade
in autumn in a cycle as old as time.  Animals follow the pattern of the seasons, too---searching for food and rearing their young---sometimes roaming many miles between one chapter of their lives and the next. 

In the spring birdsong announcing the coming of dawn is a call for a mate; the louder the song, the greater the attraction.  Female hares, larger than rabbits, stand on their hind legs to push back undesirable males.  It's called "boxing".  There is a reason new ducks follow their mothers closely.  They need the oil from her feathers to protect their own, helping them to stay on top of the water, swimming.

There are creatures of the field, in the summer, who can hang from stalks of grasses and wheat.  Harvest mice have prehensile tails.  Did you know dragonfly larvae can stay in the water for up to two years?  The leaves on the variety of trees are green for a reason . . . breathe in, breathe out.  At night owls are skillful hunters using the shape of their faces to capture sounds.

When autumn falls the noise of rutting deer is heard a mile away.  Dropped colorful leaves carpet forest floors protecting wildlife and seeds.  Nuts buried by busy squirrels, if forgotten, grow into new trees.  Rains bring out vivid displays of mushrooms; lovely to look at but many times deadly to consume.

Winter arrives.  Snoozing hedgehogs slow their heartbeats 

from 130 beats per minute to 20.

Birds not leaving for warmer residences fluff and puff to block the cold and preserve heat.  On days when moist air lingers, and temperatures drop, the morning reveals an ice-coated world.


As delicate as her pictures, the words written by Helen Ahpornsiri resonate with a respect and passion for our natural world. Facts are embedded in lyrical descriptions.  She points out details and transitions from season to season she wants us to remember.  It's as if she is taking us on our own personal walk through the meadows and woodlands, and past nearby ponds.  Here is a passage.

Butterflies & Blossoms
A spring breeze blows, carrying with it a flurry of pink-white
petals.  They land, like snow, beneath the trees, where butterflies
flit between banks of bright flowers.
The warm days of late spring tempt more and more butterflies to appear.  
Some have made long journeys on their migrations while others are
just coming out of hibernation.  The spring flowers provide
a rich source of nectar for the butterflies---just what
they need after the winter.  You'll see them most on 
calm sunny days, when neither wind nor rain can
threaten their delicate wings.


The open and matching dust jacket and book case are a first stunning glimpse at the splendor to be found within the pages of this book.  The graceful lines and intricate parts achieved with the collage artistry of Helen Ahpornsiri are masterful.  Numerous points on the heron, featured on the front of the jacket, contain gold foil.

To the left, on the back, on a continuation of the white canvas are a row of exquisite flowers arching upward on the right.  Across the top a branch of pale purple blossoms reaches from the left.  Four butterflies move among the blooms.

On the opening and closing endpapers an array dense with ferns fashion scroll work.  In pockets of white bees, butterflies, moths and a dragonfly rest and glide.  This design is carried forward to the first page and the last page.  Tiny bits of nature dot the title and verso pages, the contents and introduction.  

For each season Helen Ahpornsiri places a full-page picture on the left showcasing items from that season.  Some of those are used in the animal she places above the heading.  For most of the sections in a season the background is white, but three times she uses black.  (You will gasp at the beauty.)  Some of the illustrations cross the gutter to extend a theme.  These may be full-page images or striking double-page visions.

One of my many, many favorite pictures is of the hare.  The grass is placed along the bottom of two pages, extending to nearly the center.  On the right she is frozen with her head turned toward the reader; her one dark eye unblinking.  The position of every leaf defines her fur and muscles.  It is eloquent. 


Readers will be captivated by Drawn from Nature written and illustrated by Helen Ahpornsiri.  They will pause to study each image.  They will relish the information and be excited to learn more and take their own walk among nature.  There is a short glossary at the end.  You might want to have a flower press handy to show your readers.  I am including a video at the end on how to make your own.

To learn more about Helen Ahpornsiri and her other work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  You can view an interior image at the publisher's website.  There are more illustrations at Penguin Random House. Helen Ahpornsiri has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  She is featured by author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Please take a few moments to enjoy these videos.









Remember to stop at Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the titles selected this week by others participating in the 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

A Wide Awake World

Yesterday morning the exchange of chickadees' conversations and the buzzing of insects serenaded my furry friend and me on our morning walk.  Hours later in the evening the view during a thirty minute drive had altered considerably.  The change was stunning and unbelievable with shades of green and patches of color spread over the landscape.  It was as if a magic wand had been waved over everything.  A group of five deer scampered across the road.  Later a lone doe casually walked in front of the car and stopped to watch.

Each day the changes expand and are more startling. This morning the arrival of returning Sandhill cranes was announced with their signature bugling.  Spectacular Spring: All Kinds Of Spring Facts And Fun (Henry Holt And Company, February 27, 2018) written and partially illustrated by Bruce Goldstone acquaints readers with an array of seasonal sensations.

SPRING IS A SEASON OF SPECTACULAR BEGINNINGS.

Green plants and colorful
flowers begin to grow.

Animals shake off the cold
of winter.

People start spending more
time outdoors.

The additional length of daylight and the shorter nights are leading us day by day to the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. We get to shed our warmer clothing and exchange it for proper spring attire.  The snow squalls are replaced with thunderstorms and rain showers.  How many of you have carried an umbrella on a windy day to have it suddenly turn inside out?  (Although the results leave you rather wet, it is funny to see happen.)

If you are fortunate to be outside in the rain, with the right conditions, a rainbow will arch across your view.  As you continue to examine this new season try, with caution and knowledge, to experience the sensory perceptions.  We are asked to feel soft new grass, the warm wind and the squishy mud.

What kind of blossoms do we see?  Is that forsythia?  Gardeners' bulbs planted in the fall pop through the dirt in the form of tulips, hyacinth and daffodils, to name a few.  You will be rewarded if you take the time to smell each one.  Seeds, having traveled by a variety of methods or planted by machine or hand, move the soil aside to grown.

With spring come animal babies.  If you are lucky a bird will build a nest nearby so you can watch the evolution of new life.  Other animals wake up from their winter rest or return home.  Every living thing is stirring anew, even you.


With the first three sentences, three facts reveal noticeable truths about the season of spring.  Bruce Goldstone continues to challenge us with observable shifts from winter to spring.  He speaks about the differences in light and darkness, our clothing and the weather.  He asks us to use our senses by focusing on how things feel, what we see, how they smell, the shapes found in spring and sounds heard in spring. He contributes more than one page on seeds and baby birds.  His information is easy to understand and reads as if we are in conversation with him.  Here is a paragraph with the heading

WHAT DOES
SPRING 
SMELL LIKE?

Spring is a great time to 
close your eyes and sniff.
Smells travel more easily
in warm air than in cold
air.  As spring days get
warmer, you'll find many
fresh new smells when 
you walk outdoors.


The matching dust jacket and book case are a vibrant collage of sights seen in spring.  On the front we are given a view of spring bulbs blooming, and ladybugs creeping framed in an assortment of leaves.  It's clever to have the letters look as though cut from leaves.  To the left, on the back, amid green grass are five flower shapes.  They show other highlights of spring and the two previous seasonal titles by Bruce Goldstone, Awesome Autumn and Wonderful Winter.

A bright, bold nearly neon green covers the opening and closing endpapers.  Another seasonal scene similar to the front of the jacket and book case frames the text on the title page.  Each page turn reveals marvelous photographs, some taken by the author and others from shutterstock.com.  Many of them span two pages.  Others are placed on a crisp white background drawing attention to the individual elements.

Cutouts are used to frame photographs.  Some of them share space with individual pictures.  Each composed collage invites readers to pause as if taking a walk outside.  The design is as fresh and new as the season, illuminating, respectful and playful.

One of my many favorite pictures spans two pages.  A downpour of rain on a dark surface provides a canvas in dark colors with crystal drops.  The large text on the left and right is a single sentence divided in two.  Beneath the second section is a virtually black umbrella.  It supplies a place for the text describing why we get rain instead of snow in the spring.


This title, Spectacular Spring: All Kinds Of Spring Facts And Fun, written and partially illustrated by Bruce Goldstone is a companion title in one of my favorite series on the seasons.  It welcomes readers to the narrative, information and the changes this season brings.  At the close of the book, Bruce Goldstone includes six activities and how to do them.  You will certainly want a copy of this title for both your personal and professional book collections.

To learn more about Bruce Goldstone and his other work, please visit his website by following the link attached to his name.  At his website there is a place where Bruce gives you the opportunity to contact him.  He states:  I love to hear from readers.  At the publisher's website you can view eight wonderful interior pages.

From a Blaze of Brilliance to a Blanket of White

With every gust of wind they rain down faster.  Swirls of gold, red, orange, brown and faded green fall.  A patchwork pattern of overlapping leaves covers the grass.  These colorful showers signal the passage of time in autumn 2017.  Only thirty-eight days remain until the arrival of the winter solstice.

There are now entire trees with bare branches lifting toward crystal blue skies one day and cloudy, gray vistas the next day.  September and October are memories.  Full of Fall (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, August 29, 2017) written and illustrated by April Pulley Sayre represents through poetic phrases and her signature photography the changes we witness as one season passes into the next.

September sun 
is low in the sky.

So long, summer.
Green, goodbye!

Whether you look at a large landscape as you travel down a path or road or focus on a single leaf in your own backyard, they herald change.  They are a reflection of what was and what will be.  The individual shapes of each tree are now outlined in their respective hues.

Shades of yellow, gold, orange and red hang like Nature's jewels on rough boughs of brown.  A canopy of color provides shelter from sun or rain.  Ponds, streams, rivers and lakes capture the array.

Run your hands over the bark on trunks.  Close your eyes and feel a single leaf or hold one up to the light filtering through the trees.  What message do they bring?

Soon the assistance leaves supply to trees is finished.  They let them go.  Now they nurture the dirt and water in a necessary cycle.  Their brilliance fades.  It's coming.  Snow.


As an astute observer of the world in which we live, April Pulley Sayre asks us, through her words, to notice the seasonal shift.  During those ninety days as our world spins from summer's end to autumn and then to winter, many small events contribute to the grand scheme.  Each one plays a significant part.

A series of phrases are joined by her rhyming words.  Some only have one or two words.  Others have six or seven. The cadences they create invite us to join her as we walk through the days of autumn.  Here is another sample passage.

Trees are ready.
Twigs let go.

Leaves slip
and spin.

Wind sweeps---
leaves blow!


Beginning with the opened, matching dust jacket and book case, we experience the full majesty of the transformation of autumn.  As you run your fingers over the front of the jacket, the title text is raised.  The large maple leaf has been given a matte finish in contrast to the glossy background.  It's as if we are touching a real leaf.  To the left, on the back, a squirrel scampers along a downed branch among a carpet of fallen yellow and brown leaves. 

The opening and closing endpapers are a rich, rusty orange.  On the title page an ancient stump, rings ragged and wide, provides a background for fallen leaves and text.  With each page turn a photograph raises our awareness of the variations revealed during this season. 

The point of view, through her camera lens, has us gazing through a field of browning grasses, light tipping the tops, watching closely as a squirrel grasps grass with edges blurred, or standing on the side of a pond, gasping in awe at the opposite shore lined with red, orange and yellow trees, their hues reflected in the water.  Some of the pictures span two pages and others are group by two or three.  The multiple illustrations on two pages are separated by thin white lines.  The placement of text is perfection.

One of my many favorite pictures spans two pages.  We are looking along a rough trunk of a tree upward as the branches stretch from page edge to page edge.  Patches of blue sky can be seen through the tiny yellow, gold and slightly green leaves.  It's absolutely exquisite.


April Pulley Sayre has a gift as a master poet and photographer.  She weaves words and images together in Full of Fall to fashion a sensory experience for readers.  This title, with the companion books, Raindrops Roll and Best in Snow, should be in every professional and personal collection.  At the close of the book two pages offer scientific explanations for particular phrases relative to leaves.  April Pulley Sayre also talks about Fall around the world and Never the same show.  She includes resources on the final page, an image of two beautiful leaves on bark.

To learn more about April Pulley Sayre and her other work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  You will enjoy the backstory associated with this title.  At the publisher's website you can view several beginning interior pages along with the explanation pages at the close of the book. April Pulley Sayre is interviewed at PictureBookBuilders about this title.