Does spring arrive on soft little kitten feet? Or does it crack open like a robin’s egg? Does it waft in like pollen on the breeze, or does it wiggle in like a tadpole, grow legs, and hop away into summer? However spring arrives for you, it’s worth celebrating its return, year after year, and these glorious picture books are a wonderful way to celebrate the season with young friends, children and grandchildren.
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“What’s New, Daniel?” by Micha Archer. (Ages 3-6. Nancy Paulsen Books. $18.99.)
When Daniel and his grandfather take a walk through the park, it’s a simple question that starts the boy’s journey: What’s new?
As he skips through the spring scenery, Daniel checks in with the rock warmed by the sun and the redwing blackbirds returning to the marshes:
” ‘Winter is over!’ Blackbird says, landing on the cattails. The cattails answer too. ‘We’re sending our seeds off in the wind.’ ”
Daniel has lost a baby tooth and can run faster; the polliwogs are growing legs and the ferns are unfurling. The observant boy, in the spring of his life, checks off all the changes he sees, then returns to his grandfather to share what he’s found.
As gentle as a breeze, this beautiful book details the joy of growing things — plants, animals, children — and the magic of seeing them all through a child’s fresh eyes.
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“This Little Kitty in the Garden” by Karen Obuhanych. (Ages 3-7. Knopf Books for Young Readers. $18.99.)
Five little kitties — fluffy, saucer-eyed and adorable — welcome spring by planting a garden in Karen Obuhanych’s rhyming tale of feline horticulture and hijinks.
As they prepare the dirt (and perhaps roll around in it a bit), then plant their seedlings, the kittens see signs of the new season all around them: “These little kitties hear the bumbles buzz, watch the butterbees aflutter, and poke at crawly fuzz.” At the end (as the dirty pawprints on the overleaf hint), when the work is done, the cats feel they’ve earned a doze in the sun, “asleep in the garden bed.”
Obuhanych’s luscious cut-paper, pencil and charcoal illustrations are as bright and sunny as a steamy spring day, capturing the joys of the season.
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“You Are a Robin!” by Laurie Ann Thompson, illustrated by Jay Fleck. (Ages 2-5. Dial Books for Young Readers. $18.99.)
The latest installment in this information-packed series offers a bird’s-eye view of the iconic bird of spring — starting with a blue egg and its featherless occupant: “You peck, turn, and push for hours, until finally … crack! … You are wet and naked! You can’t see. But you are not alone.”
Eating, snuggling, growing feathers and learning to fly come next, until it’s time to migrate, return home, and build a nest for your own eggs.
Detailed back matter includes information about why robins are important, how to help them thrive, and a collection of handy facts, including this menu note: A robin can eat 14 feet of worms in a single day. Gulp!
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“Before the Seed” by Susannah Buhrman-Deever, illustrated by Gina Triplett and Matt Curtius. (Ages 7-9. MIT Kids Press. $18.99. Due Tuesday.)
Spring means seedlings — but how do plants make seeds? This ode to pollen — how plants and animals spread it, and how pollination leads to the seeds that bring us new plants — offers a lushly illustrated look at the powdery stuff that makes us sneeze.
“We live in a world of green,” writes Susannah Buhrman-Deever, but before seeds do their thing, “most flowering plants and their pollinators help each other.”
From midges and mosquitoes to lemurs, this fact-packed book details how plants and pollinators have evolved together to create amazing partnerships that make each spring gloriously green.
Caroline Luzzatto has taught preschool and fourth grade. Reach her at luzzatto.bookworms@gmail.com
