SING A SONG OF SEASONS: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year selected by Fiona Waters and illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon is a beautiful collection of nature poetry that gloriously spans the four seasons in both words and pictures. This rather heavy oversized volume of illustrated poems is a perfect book for a family of children.
Very young children will chant along with the childhood rhymes such as “Lavender’s Blue” and “She Sells Sea Shells Down by the Seashore.” Whereas, slightly older young children will enjoy “Maggie and Milly and Molly and May” by e.e. cummings as well as Christina Rossetti’s “Who Has Seen the Wind?” and “The Caterpillar.” Older children will be engaged by Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” as well as “The Eagle” by Alfred Lord Tennyson and “Sea-Fever” by John Masefield.
From haiku to Southern Paiute songs to Emily Dickenson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Margaret Wise Brown, Robert Louis Stevenson and William Carlos Williams this volume offers a lyrical look at each of the 365 days. The attractive mixed media illustrations beautifully depict everything seasonal such as rainbows and snow storms, tree houses and toads, bees and butterflies and seas and sand. The illustration for William Wordsworth’s “Daffodils” bursts forth across a sunny double page spread. The picture that accompanies “Paper Dragons” by Susan Alton Schmeltz is a kinetic dance of color as March kites take to the sky.
Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year selected by Fiona Waters and Illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon is a perfect gift book that will carry the reader 7-12 years of age and up from January the 1st right through to December 31st (Nosy Crow/Candlewick Press, 2018).
Questions for Sing a Song of Seasons:
Memorizing poetry is not only a fun thing to do but it also helps your brain stay healthy. Every month select one poem to memorize. To begin start with a short poem and work up to longer ones. By the end of the year you will have twelve poems memorized! Recite your poem to family members at the dinner table or at bedtime.
What month is your favorite? Why? Read all of the poems celebrated in this book that are included in your favorite month. How does each poem relate to this month? Have you found some new favorites? Are there any other poems that you know that you would add to this book? In which month would they best fit? Why?
The pictures in this book are colorful and engaging. Which ones visually attract you? Why? Which ones make you laugh? Why? Which ones catch your breath or inspire you? Why? Select one of your favorite poems from this book and draw your own accompanying illustration. You can create your illustration with whatever media you prefer including watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, acrylics or collage. And don’t forget to also use a huge dose of your imagination!
