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Posts Tagged ‘picture book review’

Poetry Friday: Poems for Every Season

Posted in Books, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged , , , on February 13, 2026| 15 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge.

I received an advance copy of a new poetry book from Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. Have you ever read a book that just feels good in your hands?

Poems for Every Season: A Year of Haiku, Sonnets, and More by Bette Westera offers a number of different poetry forms translated by David Colmer. Each page is a comforting woodcut design by Henriette Boerendans.

Poems For Every Season, publishing date Feb. 17, 2026
Woodcut art by Henriette Boerendans

Each poem is a delight of language, form, imagery, and the miracles of nature.

The final poem is a sonnet for February. Just when you think it’s warm enough to go outside and sow some seeds, winter makes another appearance.

Prompted by Susan Brisson in Laura Shovan’s February Challenge to write a Cento poem, I turned each page of this book to find a poem.

Roaming the Seasons

Pale petals drift down
Green buds will soon be showing on trees.
Velvety bees
Carving a nest
Buzz by
Among the yellow buttercups
Clear
I need sun
Under a blanket of leaves
Gathering growing sheltering
All curled up in my cozy bed.
We like it here and we stay.

Cento by Margaret Simon from Poems For Every Season by Bette Westera, translated by David Colmer.

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Poetry Friday: Flurry, Float, and Fly

Posted in Books, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged , , on September 12, 2025| 10 Comments »

Today’s Poetry Friday is being gathered by Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities.
A new release from Laura Purdue Salas, Flurry, Float, and Fly!

On this hot, humid southern day when the temperature rises above 90 degrees, I received this cool to the touch advanced copy of Laura Purdie Salas’s next picture book all about the poetry and science of a snowstorm.

Without January, 2025, I’d have believed I would never see a snowstorm; however, we had one here along the gulf with enough snow to do all the fun things a good snow brings.

New Iberia, LA covered in snow, January 2025.

I look forward to sharing this book with my grandchildren who are just beginning to read. The text delights with rhyme: “From the north, a polar freeze…from the south, a humid breeze. All winds advance. They mix and dance.”

In addition to lively text, this book includes science that can be easily understood by our youngest readers. Did you know “each cloud’s type—how cold?—how wet? shapes each crystal’s silhouette.”?

Chiara Fedele’s illustrations show how white can be colorful and peaceful.

Illustrations by Chiara Fedele

Laura always has on her teacher hat when she creates a book. There is back matter including intricate photographs by Dr. Kenneth G. Libbrecht of the variations of a snowflake. Teachers can also find resources on Laura’s website here. If you click fast, you can enter a giveaway for a 30 minute classroom visit with Laura.

I highly recommend her for class visits. A few years ago, my students loved learning the back story of how Laura researches and plans her picture books. Author visits help students to see all the work that goes into creating a book as well as experience the passion the author feels about her topic.

Laura lives in Minnesota, so she probably sees snow every year, but her special book “Flurry, Float, and Fly!” took this southern girl back to a cool experience with a rare snowstorm. Relive your own snowstorm stories and share them with young readers. Publication date is November 11, 2025.

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