When Green Becomes TomatoesPoems for All Seasons
Review posted October 17, 2016.
A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, New York, 2016. 56 pages.
Starred Review
2016 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #2 Children's Nonfiction
Here’s a lovely book that goes through the seasons with poetry. Each poem’s title is a calendar date. The book begins and ends with March 20 as the seasons go around.
The poems have nice variety. Some rhyme and some don’t. The styles and thoughts cover many different moods. The wonderful pictures make a lovely accompaniment. This is a meditative book and will help you notice the moments.
A few examples:
march 22
just like a tiny, blue hello
a crocus blooming
in the snow
march 26
shivering and huddled close
the forever rushing daffodils
wished they had waited
may 10
lilac sniffing
is what to do
with a nose
when it is may
and there are lilacs
to be sniffed
june 15
you can taste the sunshine
and the buzzing
and the breeze
while eating berries off the bush
on berry hands
and berry knees
Okay, I should stop with Spring! These are only some of the shortest poems, and the book does go through all the seasons. (The “When Green Becomes Tomatoes” poem falls on July 10.)
I will copy out one more, which I just love:
january 5
i would not mind, at all
to fall
if i could fall
like snowflakes
(more drift and swirl
than tumble thump
more gentle float
than ouch and bump)
the most perfect way of all
to fall
is to fall
and fall
like snowflakes
These are lovely. I like the simple child-voice, but with beauty that adults can appreciate.