In this stunning combination of wordcraft and woodcuts, readers meet the changing seasons with thirteen poems, all in different poetic structures, from award-winning Dutch author Bette Westera. Each season opens with a haiku, following with the seasons months and their poems. Readers will dance into March with a rondel for a newborn lamb, wave in the August wind with a five-line tanka for a summer sunflower, snuggle in for December with a limerick for all those who stayed home instead of going south...
Exquisite woodcut art from Henriette Boerendans, an artist making her US and UK debut, showcases the wonder of the natural world. Back matter offers further details about the poems structures--offering the perfect opportunity for young writers to write their own sonnet for February or quatrain for September. Translated from the Dutch by David Colmer.
Poetic types spotlighted:
Haiku
Rondel
Acrostic
Double dactyl
Pantoum
Elevenie
Tanka
Quatrain
Diamante
Rondelet
Limerick
Stacking Poem
Sonnet
Bette Westera has written over fifty books for children, including Fast Cheetah, Slow Tortoise and the Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book Later, When Im Big (both Eerdmans). She has also translated books by Dr. Seuss, Astrid Lindgren, and Julia Donaldson into the Dutch language. Bette lives in the Netherlands, where her books have received two Golden Pencil awards and six Silver Pencil honors. Visit her website at bettewestera.nl.
Henriette Boerendans is an Amsterdam-based printmaker and illustrator. Poems for All Seasons is her English-language debut. While walking in nature together one day, Bette and Henriette brainstormed new projects and came up with the idea for this book. Follow Henriette on Instagram @henriette.boerendans and visit her website at boerendans.com.
David Colmer is an Australian writer and translator of Dutch and Flemish literature. He has translated over eighty books throughout his career, including Ill Root for You, A Pond Full of Ink, and Fast Cheetah, Slow Tortoise (all Eerdmans). His work has been honored with many awards, including the PEN Translation Prize and the Dutch Foundation for Literatures James Brockway Prize, which recognizes a translators body of Dutch-language poetry. David lives in Amsterdam.
"The blend of gentleness in the artwork and verse encourages readers to slowly savor this charming collection." --Booklist (STARRED REVIEW)
"Splendid...Boerendanss finely etched colored woodcuts offer rich and companionable portraits of the species featuring in facing page poems--the result is a creaturely calendar of seasonal change." --Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)
"Boerendans...work throughout is masterful. The books design is innovative, while the verse is thoughtful and immersive....A remarkable collaboration." --Kirkus Reviews (STARRED REVIEW)
"This essential addition to any poetry collection for young people will delight and inspire." --Cooperative Childrens Book Center (STARRED REVIEW)
"This gorgeous book of poetry takes readers from March until December with words and art that make readers not only feel the seasons, but appreciate them more." --School Library Journal
"Poems are beautiful and meaningful...a gorgeous compendium of poetry...The art of Henriette Boerendans is positively extraordinary on the page." --Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production (SLJ)
"It includes traditional poetic forms like haiku, sonnets, and rondels, as well as an introduction to the Dutch elevenie. Kids dont need to know the terms for the various types to enjoy these lyrical seasonal verses though!" --We Are Teachers
