Children's books about the four seasons

Reading around the year

Mini issue: The four seasons

‘Tis the time of year to consider the calendar — next year’s, that is.

While I love reading about each season as it comes with my children — my deep pleasure in that rhythm is so great, I happen to be writing a book about how other parents and caregivers can apply it to their own family reading lives — there is also another kind of seasonal reading, and that’s the kind that encompasses all of them at once.

I’ve pulled together a short list of recommended titles for reading in this way, as well as a couple of reviews I’ve written in the past of books that fit this specific category.

As always, this list is not exhaustive nor anywhere near complete — if you have a four-seasons book to recommend, please leave a comment.

Farm Boots by Lisl Detlefsen is my favorite four-seasons book and, if you have children ages 2-4yo, not to be missed

• Jump Into January: A Journey Around the Year by Stella Blackstone

• Farm Boots by Lisl Detlefsen

• The Reasons for Seasons by Gail Gibbons (nonfiction)

• Twelve Hats for Lena: A Book of Months by Karen Katz

• When This Box is Full by Patricia Lillie

• A Busy Year by Leo Lionni (this book ends with Christmas, just FYI)

• Our Seasons by Grace Lin

• A Busy Year by Leo Lionni

• The Seasons by Anna Milbourne

• Circle of Seasons by Gerda Muller

• Seasons: A Year in Nature by Anna Pang

• A Year With Friends by John Seven

• Here Comes the Year by Eileen Spinelli

• Wonderful Seasons by Emily Winfield Martin

• All the Year Round by John Yeoman

• Seasons: A Book of Poems by Charlotte Zolotow

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Bringing the Outside In by Mary McKenna Siddals, illustrated by Patrice Barton (2016)

This review first appeared in issue No. 61 — I’ve edited and updated it here

I don’t know about you, but “bringing the outside in” happens nearly constantly in my house and always has. For awhile I allowed these collected items to take center stage on our kitchen table but I got tired of looking at, say, a deer hoof (my children really and truly found one; how it came to be separated from the rest of its body remains a mystery) while eating and thus established an antique cart nearby that we call simply, “the nature table.” That sounds quite Waldorf, not to mention Instagram-worthy, but alas and alack, it is not the place where I display my hand-felted weather gnomes and moon phase calendar I painted with natural plant dye I made by boiling an onion* — rather, the outdoor explorers are given free rein of this area, and I recognize the absolute pleasure to be found in bringing the outside in.

*I have never in my life done any such thing. No working mother in the world ever has.

The title of this book is a refrain repeated throughout its sweet rhyming narrative, which follows a group of small kiddos frolicking through all four seasons. Every outdoor scene is complemented by what happens afterward, indoors — anyone who has ever experienced the expedition-level preparation for going outside in 10-degree weather plus the aftermath of snow gear that entails will recognize the effort as well as the payoff, and Barton’s warm, truly adorable watercolors will remind you it is worthwhile.

Anytime you need to remember that the world outside is as surprising and weird and wondrous as a deer hoof found randomly lying on the ground, this is your book. Highly recommended for toddlers and preschoolers.

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Once Around the Sun by Bobbi Katz, illustrated by LeUyen Pham (2006)

This review first appeared in issue No. 48 — I’ve edited and updated it here

You can never go wrong with a title by Bobbi Katz, and this is undoubted my all-time favorite of hers, which contains a poem for each month, where in addition to noting the weather and the changing of the seasons, she captures all the small lovely things about the turning of the wheel through the eyes of one little boy, with language full of rich sensory details and tiny delights.

Pham’s vivacious, feel-good digital illustrations are unmatchable, but then, that’s always true. Here they exude such joy it’s hard for me to read aloud through the smile on my face. (My advice: if a book makes you smile hard, buy it and read it often).

This is an excellent read to share with elementary-aged kiddos.

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Want to take reading around the year to another level?

I have a resource that can help you do just that.

The Can we read? Children’s Poetry Almanac is a short guide offering poetry picks for every month of the year.

Each month includes five recommended poetry titles: one review plus four additional suggestions to help you sink into the seasons and appreciate the calendar as it comes.

You can read one book per week, read all the books together all month long, or come up with your own way of incorporating these titles into your routine – there are no rules!

Unconvinced? Hear it from subscriber Laura Sackton of Books & Bakes:

I have fallen hard for children’s poetry and it’s mostly because of Sarah’s love for it. I could not love the Can We Read? Children's Poetry Almanac more if I tried. I love that it’s organized by month, and that each month includes a featured title and a bunch more suggestions. I love how many different kinds of poetry Sarah recommends, from bilingual anthologies and nonfiction nature poems to book-length story poems and illustrated famous poems. She puts so much care into everything she does, including this almanac, and her enthusiasm for poetry is infectious.

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Read good books and take good care 😘
Sarah