This Friday is the first day of Spring at last! My choices for the March Book Basket celebrate the change in season with different perspectives – from the artfully scientific (Eggs
1. Eggs
Eggs feels like a peek inside a very talented artist’s nature journal. This is an excellent resource for accurate information about eggs of all sorts – from ants, seahorses, and honeybees to penguins, snakes, frogs, fish, and more. Marilyn Singer explores how different species care for their eggs, how they grow inside the egg, and how the baby animals get out. But Emma Stevenson’s masterful illustrations are the icing on the cake. Stevenson’s artwork is highly realistic and scientifically accurate and at the same time manages to be evocative and sympathetic. This book is a real treasure.
2. Flip, Float, Fly!: Seeds on the Move
Flip, Float, Fly! is a delightful introduction to the world of seeds, perfect for young children. Dandelion seeds float away on the breeze like tiny parachutes, while maple seeds flip and spin “like shiny green helicopters”. Tumbleweed plants roll across the prairie, sprinkling seeds along their path, and coconuts float in the ocean, drifting along to distant islands. This would be a lovely companion book to a little seed exploration with your child: collect seeds on a nature walk, from the grocery store, and from the garden. How many seeds can you find that are featured in the book? The illustrations are lighthearted and colorful while still being accurate, and the text is sprinkled with fun words like Pop! Fling! Wiggle! and Jump! that just beg to be acted out by an enthusiastic child.
3. Maple Syrup Season
Did you know that March is maple sugaring time? I admit I didn’t know that until I moved to the northeast. Maple Syrup Season tells the story of maple syrup all the way from tree to bottle to tummy. With charming, friendly illustrations, this is just the thing to read before a visit to a maple sugaring demonstration. But even if you don’t live anywhere near maple trees, this book can provide a nice connection to where that yummy maple syrup comes from. After reading this, you’ll be craving a stack of pancakes dripping with maple syrup or that classic Little House treat, maple syrup on snow.
4. The Boy Who Didn’t Believe in Spring
Once upon a time there was a little boy named King Shabazz who didn’t believe in Spring. “No such thing!” he would whisper every time the teacher talked about Spring in school.
When I first read this book years ago, I could not stop laughing because it is so true. In school, no matter where you live, teachers usually talk about the seasons as if they were the same everywhere – which is ridiculous, because if you live in San Francisco you’ll never see snow, and if you live in a big city you will hardly be surrounded by the “crops coming up” that KingShabazz’s mother tells him is a sign of Spring. King Shabazz convinces his best friend Anthony Polito to go with him to look for Spring. The illustrations set just the right tone, depicting the bustling street scenes as the boys walk past a BBQ joint, and come to a busy intersection. They have never gone farther than this without their parents before, and it is a big moment for the two boys when they decide to cross the street and continue their hunt for Spring.
Soon after crossing the intersection the boys reach a vacant lot with a rusted out car in the center, overgrown with weeds. They hear a soft sound coming from the car, and they bravely creep towards it…on their path to the car, Tony stumbles and King exclaims “Man, I think you tripped on these crops!” There was a small patch of yellow flowers blooming right there in the lot – “They’re comin up,” Tony shouts. “Man, the crops are comin up!” The look on the boys’ faces is pure wonder when they peek inside the old car and find a beautiful nest filled with delicate little blue eggs. They had found Spring at last.
You can find all of my Book Basket picks in the Global Mama Shop. Happy Reading and Happy Spring!
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