(2) K-3 Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. A twentieth-anniversary edition of Hyman's Caldecott Honor–winning illustrations for Updike's seasonal poems (first published in 1965, with illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert). As the poems move through the year, month by month, the watercolor illustrations change palettes and capture the warmth and affection, activity, and messiness of contemporary family life. That the family in the book is based on Hyman's family lends the book a sweet, personal specificity.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2000; November, 2018

(3) PS Nutshell Library series. The charm of the original boxed set of Sendak's four iconic miniature books may be lost with these board book editions, but everything else stays the same; and the sturdiness of the board books may add appeal to some purchasers. These are classics that belong in every home and library. Review covers these Nutshell Library titles: Alligators All Around, Chicken Soup with Rice, One Was Johnny, and Pierre.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: December, 1962

(3) PS "Hap-pea January! Let's get going. / Grab your mittens--hooray, it's snowing!" This time, Baker's beloved all-pea cast (Little Green Peas, etc.) introduces the months of the year. In each detail-filled, digitally rendered spread, jumbo-size letters spell out the name of the featured month, while the diminutive performers humorously model appropriate behavior for that month. Veggies this sweet make the year fly by.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS Illustrated by Eiko Ojala. In this dual-purpose concept book, short perky rhymes link twelve shapes to typical month-specific activities: a heart in February, a baseball diamond in June, etc. Two children and a dog demonstrate each activity. Some associations are forced and the rhyme sometimes falters, but cheerful solid-color illustrations, embellished with eye-catching three-dimensional shading, ably support the concept.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) PS Translated by Shelley Tanaka. Joyfully narrating the seasons, a round-faced little boy and his cat are at the center of a dozen short poems that distill the essence of each month. Touching upon the natural world as revealed in childhood pastimes, each poem uses simple and lovely imagery: "The water tickles my hair" while swimming in July, for instance. Feathery-soft colored-pencil illustrations have a nostalgic quality.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(3) PS "We make messes with mud / when it rains in July. / But we take nice long naps / in the grass once it's dry." Double-spread rhyming vignettes incorporate words beginning with each letter. By using natural sentence structure to describe months of the year, the result is an organic-feeling alphabet/seasons book. Playful, old-timey illustrations in earth tones depict animals frolicking in nature.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) PS Illustrated by Jana Christy. A boy and girl live out a year and engage in stereotypical seasonal activities. Simple statements and cheerful warm-toned pictures sum up each month: "time for tricks and treats," "time for the beach," and the like. The book's subtle message--though the weather changes, their friendship does not--is sweet; there's no story here, but it works as a concept book.

Reviewer: Brittany Schlorff

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Ilse Plume. "A mystery how / these endless rows of corn can / agree on their height." Each month of the year is represented by a haiku set on a large double-page watercolor painting of a scene from the natural world. The verses' wry insights are sometimes undercut by the prettiness of the pictures. Two pages of information about the seasons and a concluding haiku are appended.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Nicole Wong. This humorous folktale adaptation explains why the Chinese calendar uses specific animal names for the twelve years. The emperor, bemoaning that "we cannot recall the years," devises a race--the first twelve animals to finish will have a year named after them. Both text and ornate illustrations give personalities to each of the animals, the emperor, and his devoted advisors.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(2) K-3 In this book designed as a calendar, Gravett looks at Fibonacci's mathematical rabbit problem, introduced on the endpapers. January starts with one lonely rabbit seeking a friend. Soon this bunny and partner are expecting their first--of many--offspring. Readers will enjoy the volume’s droll layered ephemera, watercolors, collage, and mini-books. Repeated readings are a must here--there’s just so much to see.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2011

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Margot Tomes. This Slavic folktale retelling includes elements of Cinderella and myths about the seasons. Little Sister has a cranky stepmother and a demanding stepsister, but with her innate courtesy and the magical help of the Month Brothers, she manages to win back her cottage and little farm. Intimate, unpretentious illustrations reminiscent of nineteenth-century woodcuts are accompanied by small captions that extend the text.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) PS On each spread, one for each month of the year, short rhyming text chronicles the growth and adventures of Lucy the dog and her little-boy owner. Though the poems are formulaic and repetitive, they are also warmhearted and readable. Children will enjoy charting Lucy's development against the cycling of the seasons, as reflected in Wolff's engaging gouache illustrations.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Time series. These books are simple introductions to concepts of time. Short sentences on left-hand pages, usually one to three per spread, plus a "time fact" running across the bottom of the pages, use easy-to-read vocabulary, with bright photographs on facing pages. While some ideas need more explanation, the series offers reading practice and a general understanding of each topic. Glos. Review covers these SandCastle: Time titles: Time to Learn About Day & Night, Time to Learn About Measuring Time, Time to Learn About Past, Present & Future, Time to Learn About Seasons & Years, Time to Learn About Seconds, Minutes & Hours, and Time to Learn About Weeks & Months.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) PS Illustrated by Will Hillenbrand. The pleasant poem, originally part of a collection published in 1959, moves month to month, describing the year from a little girl's viewpoint. Playful mixed-media illustrations use color and clever perspectives to add energy to the slight text. Simple but satisfying, the book will bring smiles to the faces of young children and the grownups who read to them.

Reviewer: Elizabeth Shaver

(4) PS Photographs by Stefan Hagen. As in Where Is Coco Going?, playful, elaborately constructed dioramas feature a droll yellow Easter chick wearing a pink ribbon, shown here in a month-by-month recap of her year. Rhymed couplets, less memorable than the art, describe Coco's attempts to ice-skate on her backyard pool in January, giving a friend a memorable valentine in February, etc.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. A useful, attractive compendium of poetry and facts celebrating holidays, inventions, famous people, historical events, and, mostly, poets. Whatever the subject, Hopkins offers an appropriate poem--for Mother's Day, for instance, Langston Hughes's "Mother to Son"; for Edward Lear's birthday, two limericks. A spacious design accommodates the disparate elements; Alcorn's illustrations, though large and cheerful, don't overwhelm the poems. Ind.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) PS Illustrated by Hiroe Nakata. When you're a pajama aficionado, every month offers extra opportunities to don your favorite sleepwear. "If January's snow / Closes school for the day / Or my February cold / Keeps me sofa'd from play / Time for pajamas, my jamas, mine-o." The sprightly illustrations for this exuberant rhyme portray a tousle-headed child with an enviable collection of pajamas.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Maria Carluccio. "Slide into September, / come along with me! / It's time to go to school again / --what can you see?" Each double-page spread features a simple rhyming text, an inviting collage illustration of a seasonal scene, and a word list of items readers can search for in the art. Some of the items are hard to find, but in general, this is a pleasant diversion.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Siegel. "Long ago Native Americans / gave names to the full moons." This lyrical poem gives every moon its own personality: for example, the Thunder Moon of July "trembles, / shudders, / and disappears / in a thick black sky." The spare words shine as brightly as the moon on the charcoal and pastel panoramic rural scenes.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) K-3 Each month offers an opportunity for a parade, from the Thanksgiving Day Parade in November to a pet parade in June. Not fully focused on official holidays, the parade theme lacks a solid cohesive thread. The rhyming text is illustrated with bold cut-paper collage illustrations. Appended are useful facts about each month and instructions for making a calendar.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty