Review by Booklist Review
Sophie asks her parents when she'll know that spring is coming. As they advise, she listens for birds. At first, there's only snow and silence, but gradually, she hears more and more chirping birds. Next, she feels for the ground getting softer. Initially, it's hard and icy, but slowly, snow turns to slush, and her boots begins to sink in a bit. Finally, she watches for the snow to melt and sniffs for the scents of earth and rain. When raindrops fall, she catches them on her tongue: the taste of spring. The precisely worded text is carefully crafted to help children slow down the pace and tune in to the natural world with all their senses, not just their sight. Hill's evocative illustrations, done in gouache with digital retouching, invite viewers to linger over each scene. Color is used sparingly until the last few double-page spreads, when spring arrives. A possible read-aloud choice for primary-grade units on the senses, this picture book will resonate with all those who find themselves yearning for spring.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
In the middle of winter, Sophie is ready for spring. Her mother tells her to listen for it. Eventually, she hears the first chirps, but it's still cold and snowy. So her parents tell her to use her other senses to follow spring's progress. The book advances nicely through the change in seasons; gouache spreads of the landscape alternate with more action-filled vignettes. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A little girl uses all her senses to detect the signs of spring.Sophie is a fair-skinned preschooler with a brown pageboy. She lives with her family in a prosperous-looking rural community in what looks like the author's home state, Vermont. Hill's accomplished gouache paintings depict leafless trees, snow-covered ground, and a big, comfortable red house. Fanciful touches, such as a parent bluebird impossibly cuddling a baby in a snow-covered birdhouse, will appeal to children even if they are not strictly accurate. Sophie wants to "know how spring is coming." Her mother tells her to listen for bird song, and one day she hears "the first chirps." Her dad tells her to feel for soft, muddy ground underfoot; it takes a while, but finally she does. Then she watches for the snow to melt and waits "for the airto smell like earth and rain." Each of these transformations takes its time, Hill varying layouts expertly to control the pace. Six vignettes of Sophie playing in the snow on one spread emphasize the passage of time; one full-bleed double-page spread stops it altogether. Together, words and pictures capture the feeling that spring will never comeand then it comes in a rush, trees leafing out in just the last few pages, when Sophie joyfully catches raindrops on her tongue: "this is what spring tastes like!" Rural and suburban readers in northern climes will find much to recognize. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
