Children's Picture Books – Seasons of the Year

Kids Ages 4 to 8 Read About Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter

Feb 24, 2009

As the months pass and one season changes to another, parents and teachers can use these kids' picture books to introduce the idea that the same cycle repeats every year.

As kids read about activities in which other children participate during each season, they will begin to distinguish between the four seasons of the year and to understand that each season leads endlessly into the next one. Using the children's picture books recommended in this article, kids can learn about seasonal activities from times past and compare these activities with things people do during each season today.

Also available split into four separate board books, Circle of Seasons by Gerda Muller [Dutton Children's Books, 1995] gathers Muller's text and artwork about all four seasons together into one volume, bookended by new pages that emphasize the point that "the seasons form a circle." The detailed paintings that illustrate each page show kids taking part in seasonal nature-centered pastimes like sailing toy boats in rain puddles or crafting necklaces and animal figures from nuts, berries, and twigs. Young readers can compare and contrast these activities with the ones in which they themselves take part during each season.

A reprint version of the original 1957 edition, Around the Year by Tasha Tudor [Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2001] pairs soft, detailed watercolor-and-ink illustrations with a poem containing verses describing each month that is doled out half-a-line per page. The sparse amount of text per spread and the slow flow of the narrative allows the sweet pictures to take centerstage in conveying the feeling of each month and season.

The activities shown will seem quaint to modern child readers – taffy pulls and cow-milking are not as common as they once were! The clothes of the children shown were archaic even in 1957, however, and the scenes shown seem classic and frozen in time, rather than odd or outdated.

A thread of fantasy winds through the children's picture book Around the Year by Elsa Beskow [Floris Books, 1990]. The pages intersperse beautiful paintings of dancing flower fairies with ones of ordinary children performing regular activities like sledding or watching autumn leaves fall.

Originally published in 1927, this collection of lovely poems feels old-fashioned in a timeless, rather than a dated way. Containing poems for the hours, the days of the week, and then one for each month, the book teaches kids about the different ways that people measure time. It will also entertain children with funny images such as the hours tumbling about like merry people or a hungry magpie being unimpressed by the beauty of a ring of dancing berry fairies because all he wants to do is to eat the berries.

Some parents may be put off by the open references to God and religious celebrations. Many, however, will enjoy reading the lilting verses aloud and discussing the nuances of each illustration with children.

In contrast to the previous three kids' picture books, Skip Through the Seasons by Stella Blackstone [Barefoot Books, 2004] is set firmly in modern times. The activities shown for each month are still predominantly nature-oriented, but present-day features like cars and modern clothes appear, and people of all races are featured (as well as one person in a wheelchair).

Each spread is not just an illustration of a scene from a month, but also a seek-and-find game. Children must locate a list of seasonal items in each picture, such as a picnic blanket in the June park scene and a teacher in the September school scene. Young readers will enjoy finding out which exciting action verb the author has paired with each month – slide into September, twirl into October – as well as examining the busy details in each picture.

The last few pages contain factual information such as the origins of the names of each month, what makes the four seasons of the year, and how the days of the week are named in several other languages.

Enjoyable to read at any time of the year, these children's picture books can give kids ideas for things to do themselves during each season as well as teaching them what other people do. In addition, these picture books for children emphasize the idea that each year is made up of a circle of seasons that repeat over and over.

The copyright of the article Children's Picture Books – Seasons of the Year in Picture Books is owned by Renee Carver. Permission to republish Children's Picture Books – Seasons of the Year in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.