The Lion and the Bird is a beautiful, contemplative story by Montreal author/illustrator Marianne Dubuc, and it was originally published in French. It tells the story of a lion who finds an injured bird in the autumn, and cares for it over the winter. But when spring comes again, the lion understands that the bird has to fly away with the other birds. 

One thing I love about the way this tale is told is that it makes space for sadness. Even though the book does leave us with a happy ending, we really feel the loss the lion feels as he walks sadly back to his house after saying goodbye. We watch him wordlessly trying to go about his daily tasks as usual, with the inescapable awareness that someone special is missing. "Sometimes life is like that," we are told. 

Not only is there space for sad emotions, but Dubuc gives space for the tale to be told in the first place. At 64 pages, the book manages to feel complete and well-rounded without being "long." It is not overly wordy either -- the sentences are fairly short and simple, going back and forth between the narrator and words spoken by the lion. 

The story itself could be summarized quite easily in a sentence or two, but the author makes use of white space, multiple frames, and also a few wordless pages to convey a linear narrative where even the small moments are important. This also gives space for the adult reader to point things out to a child, or ask questions ("How do you think the lion feels right now?") without disrupting the flow of the story.

This story is brief, yet thorough -- succinct, yet spacious, encompassing a look at each of the four seasons, the sadness of letting go, and the beauty of friendship.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author/Illustrator: Marianne Dubuc
Pages: 64
Content Advisory: None

More Reviews at Amazon

Ox-Cart Man is a book I grew up with, as did many others in my generation. Not only did it win the Caldecott Medal in 1980, but it was also featured on Reading Rainbow, a PBS show that helped so many of us to get or stay excited about reading. 

It's the story of a year in the life of a farmer in the early 1800s, and describes all the things that he and his family grow, build, weave, and otherwise make, which the ox-cart man then takes to market to sell, one by one. 

But rather than begin at the "beginning" of a year, the story drops us into the almost-end of the cycle, into the cool of an autumn countryside as the man loads up his ox-cart. After he sells everything, buys a few things, and walks the long way back home, we are briefly shown how all of his products came about in the first place, as the next cycle starts -- who made what, and when they did it. I suppose this goes to show that there really isn't a "beginning" -- farm life is an endless circle that works in seasons, and while one thing is ending, something else is beginning.

Once I obtained this book as an adult to read it to my kids, I began to wonder whether it would hold their attention. It just seemed so very practical and task-oriented. Not to mention there's a good deal of repetition in the middle when he's doing all the selling.

While it won't garner the excitement and laughter that many books seem to go for these days, and while it doesn't seem to be trying to be poignant, I still think it communicates something important in its way -- both as a reminder of the American past and a celebration (though subdued) of hard work, self-sufficiency, and family life.

Scrounged From: A present for our kids

Format: Paperback
Author: Donald Hall
Illustrator: Barbara Cooney
Pages: 40
Content Advisory: None

More Reviews at Amazon

There are many wonderful picture books that are set in one of the four seasons individually, but here are some of my favorites that encompass all four of the seasons in one book, contrasting their different characteristics and possibilities.

1. Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson is one of my favorites of the "interactive" books we've looked at lately. The illustrations are simple and lovely, and tell the gentle story of the changes an apple tree experiences through all four seasons, though the season names are not explicitly referenced. Children are invited to touch each bud as it blossoms, and blow a gentle breeze over the page to help the colorful leaves fall down. And then at the very end, the cycle starts all over again...

2. Speaking of apple trees, The Story Orchestra: Four Seasons in One Day by Jessica Courtney-Tickle includes a small apple tree carried by a girl named Isabelle, who journeys through all four seasons in one day with her tree and her puppy, Pickle. This is a wonderful book which includes not only beautiful, busy illustrations, but also some musical snippets of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. This one is a favorite at our house, and you can read my full review here.

3. Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad All Year is the third installment in his beloved Frog and Toad series. This volume contains five stories that take place at different times of the year, including a crazy winter sledding adventure, a crazy summer ice cream mishap, and a final Christmas celebration together in front of a warm fire. Although these books are written in an "I can read" style for early readers, they are suitable for any age.

4. The Year at Maple Hill Farm, by Alice and Martin Provensen, is a companion book to Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm. Though this book is less personal in the sense that you don't learn all the names and personalities of the animals, it contains the same warmth and charm of the original, and focuses on the different things that are happening on a farm during each month of the year. From hatching eggs and haircuts to haying, harvest, and worm medicine, this book shows us how the animals experience all the different things each season brings.

5. Tasha Tudor's lovely artwork makes this book a warm and nostalgic look at special times of the year. A Time to Keep shows us how some holidays were "kept" over the course of a year in this farming community many decades ago. There are some holidays you would expect: Independence Day, Halloween, Christmas, etc., but also some that most of us are unlikely to have celebrated before: Twelfth Night, May Day, St. Nicholas's Birthday, and others. Annual traditions are shown in the framework of seasonal changes, though the focus is on the ways that each particular holiday was made special.

Bonus: For a more scientific look at the different characteristics of each season, The Berenstain Bears' Almanac (one of three books included in The Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature) is a great choice. Written in rhyme, this book explores many of the different changes that we and the world around us experience in each season, as well as different holidays and weather phenomena that we encounter over the course of a year.

The Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature has been a very enjoyable and informative read for us. Our four-year-old has asked to read it many times now, after we read it for pre-K.

This book is actually three "books" combined. The first section is the Almanac, which introduces children to the concept of a "year," and all the different changes that take place over the course of it, from major holidays such as New Year's, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving, to seasons and the way the weather changes in each one, and explanations of major weather events like thunderstorms, wind, and snow.

The second section is the Nature Guide. This gives an overview of all the different kinds of life on our planet, as well as non-living things like rocks and other geographical features. From fish to mammals to plants and insects, the bears (with Papa as tour guide) experience a little bit of just about everything!

The last section is the Science Fair, which I found to be a bit more detailed than the others, but still just as fun. We learn about simple machines, matter (including the three states of solid, liquid, and gas), and energy. Included are a few easy science experiments that children and adults can do at home to help demonstrate some of these ideas.

Even though it's instructive, the book manages to rhyme well in each section, which adds to the fun of reading.

Scrounged From: Amazon (used)

Format: Paperback
Authors/Illustrators: Stan and Jan Berenstain
Pages: 192
Content Advisory: None

More Reviews at Amazon

The Story Orchestra: Four Seasons in One Day was published in October 2016 by Frances Lincoln Children's Books. It is both a visual and auditory trip through all four of the seasons, accompanied by musical snippets from Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

The first thing I noticed about this book is how vibrant the illustrations are. The color pallete changes from warm to cool to correspond with the general feel of each season. The story follows a girl named Isabelle, her small apple tree, and her dog Pickle as they journey and experience changes through all four seasons in one day. The illustrations depict spring showers and new babies, summer flowers and a thunderstorm, autumn harvest and migration, and winter's chill and snow.

In addition to the visual feast, each page has a "button" to push to hear a small snippet from the corresponding "season" of Vivaldi's music. The button is printed on the page, but when you press it (with the page lying flat), the back cover plays the music. Even though I'm not an orchestral music buff, I still recognized some of these memorable tunes. The thunderstorm one was especially fitting. And the sound quality is very good -- much better than a typical preschooler "sound book."

On the last page, there is a short biography of Vivaldi, and we get to see all the buttons together, this time with descriptions of each snippet of music that can help us to speculate on why each season's music was written the way it was. We're invited to "hear" the shivering in the cold during the winter piece, and to listen for the slower pacing in the summer piece.

Overall, this book is not only beautifully illustrated and informative, but it is a great way to introduce children to a wonderful piece of music, and the famous composer who wrote it.

Scrounged From: A Christmas present

Format: Hardcover
Author/Illustrator: Jessica Courtney-Tickle
Pages: 24
Content Advisory: None

More Reviews at Amazon