Changes

January 12, 2015
Published in time to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of acclaimed author/editor Zolotow, this collection of 28 seasonally organized poems celebrates the delightful, unexpected moments that arise as the months pass, temperatures change, and the Earth transforms itself. The poems’ brevity, repetition, and intimate focus on small discoveries, observations, and sensations make them especially well suited to readers encountering poetry for the first time. The opening entry, “Change,” sets a contemplative, thought-provoking tone that will whet appetites for the poems that follow: “The winter/ still stings/ clean and cold and white/ as it did last year.... It is only I/ who have changed.” Likewise, the bright palette and cheery atmosphere of Beeke’s scenery will leave children anticipating picnics, seaside jaunts, Halloween chills, and the first snow of winter. Ages 3–6. Illustrator’s agency: MB Artists.

February 15, 2015
A newly gathered collection of timeless seasonal poems originally published in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, with all-new illustrations.At the time of her death in 2013, the legendary Zolotow had written almost as many children's books as her 98 years. The present collection "celebrating the seasons" pairs 28 of her poems with vibrant mixed-media illustrations by Beeke. With signature clarity and lyricism, Zolotow captures the immensity of change in the natural world. They range from a spring snapshot brief and spare as "Crocus"-"Little crocus / like a cup, / holding all that sunlight up!"-to a more extended reminiscence of the comfort of being held by her mother during a "sleepless" winter's night: "I remember that night, / with the snow / white, white, white, / and my mother's arms around me / warm and tight." Beeke employs color, texture and detail to realize these warm, inviting scenes and brilliantly captures Zolotow's natural wonders, as in "Beetle," where she effectively depicts how a Japanese beetle's wings "glisten / like a small rainbow / in the sun!" with a delightfully iridescent smudge. The book's only failing is in the sad preponderance of Caucasian children depicted in its pages. Though touted as a child's "first" poetry collection, Zolotow's heartwarming seasonal verse charms all ages. (Picture book/poetry. 4 & up)

March 15, 2015
Preschool-G Zolotow, who died in 2013 at 98, had a storied career in children's publishing. She was the author of more than 90 books that included two Caldecott Honor Books and also the groundbreaking William's Doll (1972). As an editor at Harper, she worked with some of the best-known names in children's literature, including Patricia MacLachlan and Robert Lipsyte, but this charming poetry collection will introduce Zolotow to a new audience. These simple poems, which chronicle and highlight the changing seasons, demonstrate one of Zolotow's most memorable talentsher ability to get down to a child's level and see what is important to him or her: A moment in summer / belongs to me / and one particular / honey bee. Or, There is a special kind of quiet / that each of us knows. / We hear it in our sleep / the first night it snows. These 28 poems, short yet meaningful, are illustrated in fresh watercolors that capture the spirit of the seasonand the writer.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)