Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Varied verse types evoke nature's seasonal milestones in this splendid month-by-month collection. Haiku introduce each Northern Hemisphere season, beginning with March and concluding in February, presenting unique forms, including rondel and diamond-shaped synonym diamante. May's knowing double dactyl, "Knock Knock," announces spring as a time of growth ("Rappety-tappety,/ Somebody hammering./ Probably a woodpecker,/ Carving a nest"), while November centers creature comforts, with a hedgehog narrating the serviceably titled rondelet "Hibernation" ("All curled up in my cozy bed,/ I'm warm and safe and dry"). Westera also introduces an original style--a "stacking poem"--that speaks to January's "white as the goose's tail" landscape. Boerendans's finely etched colored woodcuts offer rich and companionable portraits of the species featuring in facing page poems--the result is a creaturely calendar of seasonal change. Back matter discusses the verse forms employed. Ages 5--9. (Feb.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--4--This gorgeous book of poetry takes readers from spring to fall with words and art that make readers not only feel the seasons The Negro Speaks Of Rivers (To W. E. B. Dubois)," but appreciate them more. A poem to celebrate the changing of the leaves and new life in the form of animals and plants. A poem to celebrate each month of the year and how that season is represented within that time as it slips into the next season. Translated from Dutch, the poetry in English is still accessible for young readers; every spread displays an illustration, and in the corner, it is noted what kind of poem is featured. The kinds of poetry featured are a diamante, acrostic poem, quatrain, tanka, rondelet, double dactyl, pantoum, elevenie, limerick, a stacking poem, and more. The artwork is soft, with a color palette to match the season. Pinks and new greens open the book with spring poetry, warm and rich colors accompany fall, while slowly cooling whites and blues appear in the winter poems. VERDICT A solid purchase for elementary collections where beautifully illustrated poetry books about nature and the seasons would be appreciated and great additions for story times.--Molly Dettmann
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In this Dutch import, Westera presents 16 seasonally arranged poems representing 13 separate verse forms. Each section begins with a scene-setting haiku, nestled against four repeating, multicolored woodcut spreads whose farmhouse, field, pond, and trees reflect seasonal changes. Westera employs traditional and modern forms and invents one herself: the stacking poem, "in which words are stacked upon each other." The four haiku embody the Japanese form's crystallizing turns of phrase and traditional focus on nature. "Ice forms on the pond / It can grow thicker or thaw / Winter will decide." The rondel, the pantoum, the tanka, and the sonnet all appear, reflecting poetry's cross-cultural roots. Playful modern forms include the double dactyl (invented in 1951 by two American poets) and the diamante, a diamond-shaped form created by another American, Iris Tiedt, in 1969. A Dutch form, the elevenie, is just as it sounds: 11 words in a specified sequence. (In a note, translator Colmer explains that, in consultation with Westera, he substituted certain forms, such as December's limerick, for those less familiar to English-speaking readers.) April's "Spring Fever" is an acrostic whose lines' initial letters spell "Vincent Van Gogh." The middle stanza reads "Velvety bees / Attack the almond blossom, / Nectar sweet as honey." Boerendans' facing woodcut is a distinctive homage to Van Gogh'sAlmond Blossoms, and her work throughout is masterful. The book's design is innovative, while the verse is thoughtful and immersive. A remarkable collaboration. (information on verse forms)(Picture book/poetry. 5-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
