Spring Blossoms

August 1, 2013

PreS-K-An ode to the beauty of the season, this book is a catalogue of flowering trees that will charm children. Written in rhyming couplets, Gerber's spare text leaves plenty of room on the page for Evans's luscious bursts of color, including all the fresh pinks and greens one would witness on a fine spring day. Information is embedded in the poetry, such as the fact that some trees contain both male and female flowers: "White pine's male flowers, small and yellow, /grow in clusters near branch tips./Female flowers bloom weeks later./They're tinged with red, like slender lips." Back matter and clearly labeled illustrations help to make this a unique contribution to informational literature. Given the new Common Core priorities, this book is real plus.-Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2013
Grades 1-3 This homage to spring trees packs a good deal of information into lightly rhymed verse, but it's the lush art that will attract children immediately. Two girls take readers through a garden, pointing out trees like the white dogwood, which wears a frosty crown, or the cherry flowers that grow in bundles, like small bouquets on long, stout stems. Children may be puzzled a bit by the terms male and female flowers, but an author's note explains what that implies and how pollen, which goes from the male to the female, perpetuates the tree's life cycle. The illustrationslinoleum block print, watercolor, and collagehave a three-dimensional look that is especially appealing when a two-page spread consists only of buds or flowers on a branch set against a cool white page. The last imagesrain falling and setting loose a storm of blossomsis a fitting, exuberant way to end a book that brings the essence of spring to life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)