When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes | Seasonal Story
In When Spring Comes, a beautiful book for young children, Caldecott Medalist and Newbery Honor author Kevin Henkes uses striking imagery, repetition, and alliteration to introduce basic concepts of language and the changing of the seasons. And acclaimed artist Laura Dronzek's gorgeous, lush paintings show the transformation from quiet, cold winter to the newborn spring.
Before spring comes, the trees are dark sticks, the grass is brown, and the ground is covered in snow. But if you wait, leaves unfurl and flowers blossom, the grass turns green, and the mounds of snow shrink and shrink. Spring brings baby birds, sprouting seeds, rain and mud, and puddles. You can feel it and smell it and hear it--and you can read it!
Ideal for introducing the season, for story time, and for bedtime reading.
DETAILS
- When Spring Comes
- Written by Kevin Henkes and Illustrated by Laura Dronzek.
- Published by Greenwillow Book; February 9, 2016.
- Age: 4 to 8 years
- 0.3" H x 11.4" L x 9.6" W (1.0 lbs) 40 pages
- Hardcover
PRAISE FOR When Spring Comes
"In a starred review, The Horn Book said, "This joyful reflection is as welcome as spotting the first brave crocus."
"Dronzek's cozy paintings combine the simplified shapes of plants, creatures, and children...Henkes is honest about spring's more trying moments, weaving themes of waiting and patience throughout...Readers, especially those who live in regions that experience the full range of changing seasons, will warm to this catalog of familiar joys." -- Publishers Weekly
"A read-aloud dream, the meticulous text catalogs Spring's awakenings and its characteristic weather. ...Dronzek's thick-lined, bright acrylics are as simultaneously wry and joyous as the text...Henkes and Dronzek make waiting almost as much fun--if not more so--than the payoff." -- Kirkus Reviews
"No harm comes to the bunnies, birds and kittens in Laura Dronzek's deliciously colorful paintings for 'When Spring Comes, ' a gentle picture book written by Kevin Henkes. ...From brown to green, from eggs to birds, from seeds to flowers, seasonal changes transpire sweetly in these pages." -- Wall Street Journal
"Henkes creates a childlike and child-friendly cadence with the rhythms of his writing, and the robust, thickly outlined art carries plenty of kid appeal as well. ...Expect this to see heavy use in classrooms and library story hours." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books