Discover the Seasons

Rhymes, recipes, crafts and realistic, double-page illustrations encourage readers to celebrate the seasons in this combination picture book/activity book. Beginning with spring, each season is introduced with flowery, at times slightly reaching poems (""Green grass turns gold/ in the glowing sun./ Ripe sweetness fills the air./ Little ones sniff/ and taste and run,/ Content with nature's fare"") set against high-color, amply detailed spreads featuring animals in their natural habitats. The subjects of each picture are further described in prose, more factual than the verse but still fairly purplish. Activities for each season range from the tried and true (wire-hanger mobiles, milk-carton birdfeeder, etc.) to the easy but inventive (save dryer lint for bird nests, make hummingbird nectar). Of the recipes, the most intriguing is the break-all-categories peach treat cooked in a ""solar oven"" made of black construction paper and foil. An unexceptional but more or less satisfying smorgasbord for the entire family. Ages 3-10. (Apr.)