Picture books have a way of bringing all the unique elements of each season to life, so that after enjoying a season through books, you tend to notice the changes around you a little more. Books can bring a season to life in vivid color and add to our memories of different times of the year.
Spring has never been my favorite season, because where I live it tends to be mostly mud and brown. But we dived into spring picture books this year, and I think these picture books have added to my appreciation of spring. Maybe it is mostly mud and brown in the spring, but eventually, little bits of green do start to poke through - and that’s really the fun of spring, isn't it? It's like a treasure hunt.
Here are some of the books that have brought spring to life for us this year! I may add more to this post as I find more springtime books.
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Annie And The Wild Animals by Jan Brett - Annie's cat disappears, and she tries to attract a new pet with food at the edge of the woods...but ends up attracting a bunch of wild animals! Thankfully her cat, Taffy, reappears after having her kittens in the spring. This book captures that transition between snowy winter and spring.
Cozy by Jan Brett - This is a story about a bunch of animals that hide from the winter wind in a muskox's fur until spring. This is a nice winter-to-spring transition book.
And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano - I love this book, because it perfectly captures that awful waiting for all the brown to turn to green!
An Egg Is Quiet/ A Nest Is Noisy/ A Seed Is Sleepy by Diana Aston - All three of these books are nature-journaling style, with gorgeous illustrations of different specimens and text diving deeper into each topic. They are all three perfect for spring!
Worm Weather by Jean Taft - This book has particularly cute illustrations, following two kids through rainy weather - “worm weather” - along the sidewalk, to a pizza shop, and to a playground after the rain starts to lighten.
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart - This book follows a young girl who must temporarily move to the city to help with her uncle's bakery - but she loves gardening, and finds a way to grow things in the city too. The story is told through a series of letters to her parents and grandmother, and it's very sweet.
Spring Is Here by Will Hillenbrand - Mole is trying to tell Bear that spring is here, but Bear won't wake up - so Mole makes him a stack of pancakes. I thought the illustrations in this were really cute. The vocabulary is simple, so I'd recommend it for the younger crowd especially.
Fletcher And The Springtime Blossoms by Julia Rawlinson - A little fox misunderstands the seasons in this book series - in this spring book, Fletcher mistakes springtime blossoms for snow. My littler girls (5 and 7) especially like these books.
I'm A Duck by Eve Bunting - The story of a little duck who must overcome his fear of water. It's adorably illustrated!
The Biggest Puddle In The World by Mark Lee - Two kids go to stay with their grandparents, but it rains for days. When they leave the house they go on an adventure to find the biggest puddle in the world. This would be a great book for a jumping off point in discussing the water cycle.
Watersong by Tim McCanna - This book has beautiful, colorful illustrations, and is very sparse on words. It's fun for younger kids, but also interesting if you use it to discuss onomatopoeia with older kids, since most of the words are sounds of water during a rainstorm.
The Song Of Spring by Hendrik Jonas - A tiny bird forgets his spring song, and accidentally summons a host of animal friends until he finally gets it right! This is a cute one for the younger crowd.
Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Pak - This is part of a series of books that really capture the transition time between seasons!
A Packet Of Seeds by Deborah Hopkinson - In this book, a family moves to the prairie, but the mother finds herself depressed with a new baby while being away from her family and friends. Her kids come up with a plan to help her by planting a garden. Really sweet story, and beautiful illustrations!
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney - This book is a classic, but I hadn't actually read it before this year. Miss Rumphius wants to do two things - travel the world, and then settle down by the sea - but her grandfather tells her she also needs to do one more thing - make the world a little more beautiful. Flowers are involved and it feels very springy.
Sheep In A Jeep by Nancy Shaw - The illustrations in this book make it feel spring appropriate, because there are pictures of soft grass, dirt roads, and mud. This one made my kids laugh with it's funny illustrations and simple, short poem.
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss - Another simple classic for the younger crowd. A little boy plants some carrot seeds and tends his garden faithfully even when nothing comes up.
In The Garden With Dr. Carver by Susan Grigsby - A great spring book with a little history tie-in. A group of children meet George Washington Carver and he teaches them about all the things that help a garden to flourish.
Tops And Bottoms by Janet Stevens - We read this book for the first time this year, and my kids loved it! Hare hoodwinks Bear into letting him grow crops on Bear's land. The tricks are fun, but this is also a story about being willing to work hard to reap a reward.
The Diggers by Margaret Wise Brown - An imaginative story about digging a tunnel under a mountain. This book is a fun one if you have any kids interested in construction equipment, since digging equipment has a big feature in the story.
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton - This story spans all the seasons as it follows the life of a little house in the country as the city builds up around her. This book feels like a good one for the season since it starts and ends with spring.
My Nana's Garden by Dawn Casey - A story about a girl's memories in her Nana's garden. After her grandmother is gone, she grows up but still brings her child to the garden. Really sweet book about growth and loss and change, with lovely illustrations.
Spring Parade by Camelia Kay - This is a really pretty spring book, all about the "firsts" of Spring.
Planting A Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith - All about how seeds are spread and planted naturally throughout nature, but it starts with a vegetable garden and I think it's an interesting topic to discuss at this time of year.
Mossy by Jan Brett - This is the story of a turtle that grows a beautiful garden on her shell, but unfortunately that ends up taking her away from her turtle love and lands her in a museum. A really cute book, and it's fun to read a non-wintery book from Jan Brett!
Sylvester And the Magic Pebble by William Steig - A wacky story about a donkey who finds a magic pebble and accidentally turns himself into a rock...until his parents have a spring picnic and accidentally help him turn back into a donkey! This one is imaginative and fun, with a little spring tie-in.
Washday by Eve Bunting - In this book, a girl visits her grandmother when her mom is about to have a baby, and helps her grandmother with the laundry. This is an interesting look at the old-fashioned way of doing laundry, and it ends with a tea party.
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown - This book is a classic, about a little bunny that wants to run away - but no matter where he goes, his mother will follow him. It definitely has a spring vibe.
Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring! by Kazuo Iwamura - Mick, Mack, and Molly follow the melting snow down a stream and into a big lake, until they are rescued by ducks and have a spring picnic with their parents. Cute story!
Flower Garden by Eve Bunting - A little girl carries a "garden" from the grocery store and plants it into a flower box for her mother's birthday.
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown - This book was inspired by an old elevated railway in New York that has been somewhat taken over by plants - the author imagines what it would be like if plants were cultivated in more out-of-the-way places in the city. This book is colorful and imaginative!
Water Is Water by Miranda Paul - This book goes through all the different forms water takes as the seasons change. I love the illustrations in this one!
Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall - A farmhouse sees all the phases of a family of twelve kids, before it is abandoned and starts to decay. The author of this book based it off an actual old farmhouse she explored, including actual scraps of fabric and paper from the farmhouse in her illustrations, in an attempt to honor everything this old house must have witnessed before it was torn down. This book is a little bittersweet, but it's full of family life and plants and memories, and we enjoyed it alot.
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For convenience, I created a printable list of all the books in this post! You can click here to access the file.*
Enjoy! And Happy Spring!
*You may print off copies for your family's use. No redistribution allowed in print or digital format.
I am amazed (in a good way...) at how many books you guys read. I expected about five or six. Good job on all of the reading. I have always loved spring but it's my birthday season so I guess I've always seen it differently ;). I love watching outdoor trees and bushes "spring" to life with emerging greenery in the spring.
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