That's What Happens When It's Spring!

The title is the refrain for many of the season's small, rewarding discoveries: barely visible red bulbs underneath mulch that protects the rhubarb patch all winter; brightly dyed Easter eggs, one small green leaf on an otherwise brown willow tree; playing in the mud; a new baby calf; harvesting dandelion greens for supper; and much more. Shenks's dazzling illustrations explode in confetti-colored streaks and washes, with a variety of close-ups that relay the tiniest of spring's details in an almost abstract way: a braided rug on a blue floor also looks like a seashell-laden coast of an ocean, and the skunk cabbage flowers in a meadow look like a lush, exotic jungle. The text has a genuine innocence to its praises; in the same way that spring unfolds and leads to summer, so does the book look to the future. Ages 3-6. (September)