Green on Green by Dianne White, illustrated by Felicita Sala

Green on Green by Dianne White, 

illustrated by Felicita Sala

Beach Lane Books, 2020, 48 pages

A curious young child living in a house in the country with his family - dad and pregnant mom - explores the four seasons through the prism of color. It begins in the spring and each season is celebrated with a wordless two page illustration followed by four two-page spreads. The text is written in a gentle, lyrical rhyme, with three line on each spread. The illustrations are done with watercolor, gouache, and color pencils in a folk art style that just compliments the text so well. Sala has included so many delightful objects in each page that my young readers spent some happy time exploring them all.

As the days grow longer and warmer, spring's color is yellow - flowers, bees, lemonade, sunflakes plus green:

When the days grow hotter, summer's color is blue - coral, shell, the ocean, with some yellow - sand, sun, meadow - plus green

Autumn brings cooler temps and as trees and grass change, the main  color is brown - squirrels, mice, trees, cinnamon spic, with some yellow - corn, leaves - plus green

Cold Winter, with its snow and green pine trees is white - snow, breath - with some gray and taupe - plus green

I was lucky enough to be able to share this lovely book with my young readers before we had to go our separate ways because of the Cornonavirus. One of the things that they all noticed is how the mom' pregnancy becomes more and more apparent until finally the last illustration brings readers back to green spring and mom holding with a new baby. I read this book a number of times to them and we has a lot of fun naming colors and counting things we found in the book.

Dianne White has a wonderful Activity Kit that you can be used with or without a copy of Green on Green and you can download it HERE. I printed copies for my kiddos to take home with them and bring back whenever we meet again in to future. I'm excited to see what they do with it.

Green on Green is a lovely, joyful book that is perfect for young readers. If you are home schooling during this time, pair it with Blue on Blue, another book by Dianne White that has been a favorite of my young readers for a while now.

This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was gratefully received from Barabara Fisch at Blue Slip Media 

Hi, Koo! A Year of Seasons by Jon J. Muth

Whenever a new book about bears is published, especially those that are about pandas or polar bears, my friends all send me messages about it.  They all know I tend to gush over bears and if I had a bucket list, playing with a panda would definitely be one it.

So, naturally, when Hi, Koo! came out, I had a flutter of email and Facebook activity.  But I was one step ahead of everyone on this one and already had a copy.  Hi, Koo! is a wonderful, gentle poetic journey through the four seasons in the company Koo.  Well versed in haiku, Koo is the enchantingly delightful nephew of Stillwater, a giant but gentle, Zen wise Panda first introduced to young readers in Zen Shorts (Scholastic, 2005).  We met Koo in 2008 when he visited he uncle in Zen Ties.

In Hi, Koo!, Jon Muth first explains the Japanese haiku and why the line pattern of five, seven, five sound parts won't work in English.  He then tells us that for him, a haiku is an "instant captured in words...using sensory images" that capture an emotion.

And so, with Koo's help, Muth takes us through the four season in twenty six different haiku's, and thrown in for good measure is the alphabet, each letter disguised within the haiku in its capital form.

There are 6 haiku dedicated to Fall, seven to Winter, six to Spring and seven to Summer.  Each one with its own beautiful watercolor and ink illustration featuring Koo, and sometimes a little black kitten friend.

I love the idea of introducing young readers to the beauty and expressiveness of poetry and this book goes far in achieving that goal.  Muth has captured some emotional instants we have all felt at one time or another.

But, wait, see for yourself.  Allow me to share one of my favorites from each season (but the are all good):

Fall

Winter

Spring

Summer

If your young readers are already familiar with Koo, they will certainly enjoy Hi, Koo! and if they haven't met this roly-poly panda yet, they are in for a real treat.  This is a book they will want to return to again and again, especially as the seasons change.  And what a wonderful read aloud book for quiet moments like bedtime.

This book is recommended for readers age 5+
This book was purchased for my personal library