The Noisy Puddle: A Vernal Pool Through the Seasons

Sweeney’s rhyming poetry highlights the sights and sounds of a “noisy puddle” in this captivating tribute to underappreciated vernal pools and their role in supporting healthy wetland ecosystems. Framed as a series of nature walks that take place over the course of a year, lines urge “LISTEN./ LISTEN.” and “LOOK! LOOK!” as a pale-skinned, dark-haired child and caregiver accompany wildlife observations rendered in rhyming verse. Spring brings creaturely identification (“Wood frogs quack./ Ducks clown./ Fairy shrimp swim/ upside down”), but the vernal pool disappears with summer’s arrival, replaced by buttonbush and butterflies, then fall rains and autumn leaves, and winter ice until, at last, spring’s robins sing “Cheer-up.” Cut paper and fabric gives Sato’s outdoor scenes a crackling texture that makes pages feel touchable, amplifying the book’s eco-embrace of attentive sensory exploration. Back matter includes a note, a list of wildlife pictured, and resources. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)