Children's Book Review: And Then It's Spring

And Then It's Spring
Written by:  Julie Fogliano
Illustrated by: Erin E. Stead
Published by: Roaring Brook Press, 2012

From goodreads.com:
Following a snow-filled winter, a young boy and his dog decide that they've had enough of all that brown and resolve to plant a garden. They dig, they plant, they play, they wait . . . and wait . . . until at last, the brown becomes a more hopeful shade of brown, a sign that spring may finally be on its way.

Julie Fogliano's tender story of anticipation is brought to life by the distinctive illustrations Erin E. Stead, recipient of the 2011 Caldecott Medal.

* My kids are very familiar with planting seeds.  Every spring I have them help me plant seeds. Even though I've tried gardening in both a box and containers, I've realized that I'm not very good at it.  A couple of weeks ago we planted our seeds.  The cries of excitement when the kids found them sprouting was priceless.  I'm keeping my fingers crosssed that we have better luck this year than in the past! This book captures that anticipation of waiting to see if seeds will sprout.  In this story the boy plants his seeds outside and he thinks of all the things that can go wrong (the birds eat the seeds, the bears stomp on the ground).  Although the kids could relate to the story, it didn't interest them very much.  As my daughter said, "It was okay."  I thought it was a nice book to read as spring begins.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.