colors are appearing

Though we received about 6 inches of snow on Monday, the temperatures have been in the 40s all week, melting it all away. This weekend is looking like 50s and rain showers on Easter Sunday, and I can live with these things because, as Bob at the Farm used to say, "the backbone of winter is broken." It's in the days, the odd way that spring feels tangible even though the temperatures sway back and forth and the winds blow bitterly. It is visible in the way that the bent over remains of corn stalks, plowed down in the last of the season, now act as resting stoops for birds. Not just the winter birds, but the returners too; the lyrical songs every morning, drawing both Hemmy and I to peak out through the curtains and look for the source of that baby bird squeak song we've been hearing. I saw green shoots in a soybean field the other day and breathed a literal sigh of relief. Winter takes such a toll on the soul--a necessary one, as it makes the spring more brilliant.


So, of course in the midst of all of this, it is only right that stories of the seasons and especially spring are what everyone wants. After a parent requested books on the seasons I discovered that our collection was seriously lacking, so I bought a half dozen new fic/nonfiction titles for our the kiddos and when they arrived I absolutely fell in love with this book!

Red Sings from Treetops:  A Year in Colors, (Joyce Sidman, illus. Pamela Zagarenski) is so wonderful! Not only does it reiterate the colors of the seasons, but it meanders through a year in a book loaded with gorgeous collage artwork--it is no surprise that it was a Caldecott honor book the year it came out (2009)! I love love love it! I read it with the 4s & 5s group, and the Headstart kiddos. The kiddos were excited about Easter this week and it's all they've been telling me about--the chocolate egg soaked version, not the Jesus one--so it felt good to read something non-Eastery that held our attention. Blissful spring!
*Sighing with contentment*