Seasons: Anne Crausaz
June 17, 2011
Book: Seasons
Author: Anne Crausaz
Age Range: 3-8
Seasons is a lovely little picture book by Anne Crausaz, originally published in France, recently released in a US edition by Kane Miller. Seasons is, as one would expect from the title, an introduction to the seasons for kids. Each season gets several page spreads filled with sights, sounds, tastes, scents, and textures.
Seasons reads like an illustrated poem, with very spare text, and highly stylized pictures. For examples, one spread is:
"Fireflies, like flying stars.
Summer has arrived!"
The background is a deep, dusky blue, dotted with pin-prick stars, while mysterious plants and over-sized fireflies make up the foreground.
Or there's this on another page:
"Sometimes summer is the taste of sand
in your mouth!"
We see a freckle-faced girl against a blue-gray background, with minimal texture. It's not a typical ocean scene (there's no texture to the water at all), but we can see sand falling from the fruit in the girl's hands.
Crausaz does an excellent job of showing the ways that the seasons feel, using warmer palettes for the warmer seasons. She highlights many of things that make each season wonderful, from the crackling sound that leaves make in the fall to the smell of woodsmoke in the winter.
Seasons is a relatively small picture book (8.7" by 7.2"), with no dust jacket. I think this will make it appealing to small hands. It's a quiet book, but one that I found myself wanting to re-read immediately. Recommended for preschoolers, or anyone who has an appreciation for the outdoors. Truly a beautiful little book. Kudos to Kane Miller for bringing it over from France.
Publisher: Kane Miller
Publication Date: March 2011 (first American edition)
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher
© 2011 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. All Amazon links in this post are affiliate links, and may result in my receiving a small commission on purchases (with no additional cost to you).