Review by Booklist Review
Ages 4^-6. From the Celebrate the Seasons series, which includes It's Fall (2001), this brightly illustrated picture book offers sensory impressions and childlike experiences representative of spring. Writing in first person from a boy's point of view, Glaser proves an astute observer of what spring looks and feels like to a child: pussy willows soft against the cheek, birds that "cheep and warble and trill," and the sunsets after dinner. Swan's eye-catching artwork underlines the three-dimensional quality of collage. Rather than trying to mask the joint marks where one piece of painted-and-cut paper meets another, the illustrator uses light and shadow to highlight the overlapping papers and create a greater sense of depth. A list of nature activities adds to the usefulness of this pleasant book. --Carolyn Phelan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A companion to the author's It's Fall (Millbrook, 2001). The excitement of spring is in the air as a boy explores the world around him. Cut-paper illustrations enhanced by hand painting give a three-dimensional look to the scenes. A double-page spread of a torrential river made up of marbled paper and paint splatters is especially evocative of the season. However, reading aloud is made somewhat awkward by text that sometimes rhymes and sometimes doesn't. For example: "One day we spot a robin./Then soon we see red-winged blackbirds and/a bright goldfinch. Early in the morning we/hear the birds sing. They cheep and warble/and trill-it's spring!" Still, children will enjoy this spring scavenger hunt as they browse the richly detailed illustrations. The book closes with a list of nature activities.-Alison Kastner, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A boy explores the natural world around him and discovers all of the classic signs of spring. Poetic text highlights the sights, sounds, and smells of the season, but lacks the drama and energy necessary to sustain interest. Bright cut-paper collage illustrations extend the text. A list of simple nature activities is included. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Glaser and Swan team up once again in this eye-catching and informative ode to nature, the second in a series of seasonal titles (It's Fall!, 2001, etc.). Speaking through the voice of a narrator, Glaser uses simple language to convey the changes brought by spring: warmer weather, budding plants, and awakening animals. "I run outside in thin pants and short sleeves. / No thick heavy winter coat bundled around me. / I skip and leap and feel light and free. / Fresh air rushes all over me." On the next page, "Creeks and streams are starting to flow." In cut-paper collage created from hand-painted papers, Swan's gorgeous depiction of water rushing down a mountainside comes alive with swirling marbled paper and a slate-blue sky flecked with white. In the foreground, sculptured, sun-colored daffodils shoot up around the rocks. Later, Swan's palette turns deep blue and mossy green as a troupe of wide-eyed "spring peepers and bullfrogs sing" amidst the rushes. The narrator and his dog, who's howling at the moon, appear as small silhouettes below the star-dappled sky. In the end, Glaser suggests a series of "Nature Activities to Do in the Spring." A natural choice for springtime reading. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
