“Spring is … the last time we hear ‘Snow day!’ on the news … the last time we bundle into snowsuits … And it’s also the first time we see new grass … the first time we play catch, and the first time we wash the car.” This imaginative approach to describing the four seasons (in some regions) captures the overlapping traits that are inevitable between one season and the next. Each season here is characterized by a series of four “last time” followed by four “first time” observations. Summer is being barefoot in the grass and “June bugs hitting the screen” for the first time, but before that it’s the “last time we wear flannel pajamas.” Fall is “the last time mom mows the lawn” and the first time woolly bear caterpillars appear. Winter is “the last time we visit the playground” and “the first time the car gets stuck.” The patterned text features child-centered observations inviting reflection and offering great conversation starters. Colorful, cozy collage illustrations follow the same white family over the course of a year.  ©2022 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

(Ages 5-8)

With evocative words and glorious cut-paper collages, this celebration of the transitions between seasons summons the first—and last—signals of the seasonal cycle.

What is the first sign of spring? And what is the last glimpse of winter? The joy of the changing seasons means saying hello to new but familiar rituals, like spring picnics in the park or homemade lemonade in summer. But there’s also the bittersweet feeling of doing something for the last time, like mowing the lawn one final time on a brown day in autumn, or watching the last of the geese fly south in the early weeks of winter. Whichever way you mark the changing of the seasons, every year feels like an extraordinary miracle! In this jubilant ode to seasonal rituals, Leda Schubert evokes the familiar, enchanting rhythm of the four seasons, while Clover Robin’s bold collages bring warmth and magic to everyday occurrences.