Seasons

Goennel's first book provides her with a splendid new format for the naive illustrations that have often graced the cover of the New Yorker. An ode to the four seasons, the narrator refers to special things about each seasonal change, and then mentions a particular favorite: flying kites in spring; going to the beach in summer; trick-or-treating in the fall; playing in the snow in winter. The best part of season-watching, however, is ""knowing they'll come back year after year.'' The artist's faceless children convey entire personalities, as they grasp pumpkins, curl up with a book in a chair or slip a valentine under a neighbor's door. And the text, deliberately simple, shows a talent for understatement. A most appealing debut. (3-6)