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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

Twenty-six short poems describe aspects of the season of rebirth and renewal with subjects that are sometimes pleasingly familiar and sometimes surprisingly fresh. Many readers will get the immediate connection between spring and poem topics such as April, Buds, Kites, and Seeds, but among the more original offerings are Dawn, Hopscotch, Ladder and Venus, and Umpire is sure to bring a smile to some. Each poem is an acrostic, in which the first letter of the lines can be read vertically to spell out whatever is being described, and in each the connection to the season is made lyrically clear. Colored type is used to set the vertical word apart from the rest of the poem. Each page features a single boxed poem set on a richly colored, bordered linoleum cut. The handsome design is given even greater unity by the artist's depiction of the same family and diverse group of children throughout the illustrations of this book that is sure to inspire some poem-making among readers. (Ages 7-11)

CCBC Choices 2000 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2000. Used with permission.

From Horn Book

July 1, 1999
An alphabetical listing of springtime's sights, sounds, and emotions is recorded in brief blocks of text that form engaging acrostics. Read vertically, the first letter of each line spells out the seasonal word being described, such as kites, seeds, and twilight. The evocative free verse captures the season's promise, as do the colorful block-print illustrations.

(Copyright 1999 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From School Library Journal

April 1, 1999
K-Gr 4-Schnur and Evans have combined their considerable talents to create a picture book that is both innovative and lovely. Done in the form of acrostics, the poems are a visual as well as a literary delight. Their style is simple, yet capable of evoking myriad images and feelings, similar in many ways to haiku. For example, in "Dawn": "Day breaks early now/And quickly/Warms after a cool/Night." The linoleum-cut illustrations are rich in detail and vibrant with spring tones. Easily as successful as this team's previous collaboration, Autumn (Clarion, 1997), this book could be used effectively with any unit on seasons or as a study of literary re-creations in combination with Bonnie Christensen's Rebus Riot (Dial, 1997). It will also spring off the shelf on its own.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

From Booklist

April 1, 1999
Gr. 2^-5, younger for reading aloud. Similar in format to Schnur's "Autumn" (1998), this volume features one illustrated acrostic on each page. For instance, the word "grass" appears vertically in purple, but reading horizontally the lines read "Green leaves overhead, a / Rug of green underfoot, / And the air between / Sweet with the green / Smell of spring." Evans' artwork is outlined in black, making the rich colors appear jewel-like and full of light. Schnur's best acrostics are fresh and imaginative, distilling the essence of the season in a few brief lines and images. An attractive book, sure to be used in many classrooms, sometimes as an alphabet book, sometimes as an evocation of spring, sometimes as a model for student writing. ((Reviewed April 1, 1999)) (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)