When Green Becomes Tomatoes

When Green Becomes Tomatoes. Julie Fogliano. Illustrated by Julie Morstad. 2016. Roaring Brook Press. 56 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: from a snow-covered tree/ one bird singing/ each tweet poking/ a tiny hole/ through the edge of winter/ and landing carefully/ balancing gently/ on the tip of spring.

Premise/plot: When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for all Seasons is a children's poetry book celebrating the four seasons. The book opens and closes with the same poem: March 20. Each poem is a date of the year. Each season has many poems. Though the book celebrates the seasons, this isn't a collection celebrating holidays. (Though there is a poem for October 31.) The poems vary in length and style. Here is one of my favorite short poems: april 12/ rain makes frogs hop/ in a hurry. And here's one for fall: november 20/ there is nothing left to bloom/ or sprout/ or bud/ or grow/ these showers will not bring you flowers at all/ these showers are practice for snow.

My thoughts: I loved, loved, LOVED this one. I like to read a few poetry books per year. It's not one of my favorite, favorite genres. But it is something I feel I ought to read. That's why I'm confident that you don't have to be a poetry lover to appreciate the beauty and simplicity of Fogliano's book. Now, I can't guarantee that you'll love every single poem in this one. But surely you'll find more than enough to like...if not LOVE. I love the focus on the ordinary, on nature, on life, on being. The book captures moments of life. The poems are accessible--reader friendly.

I also love, love, LOVE the illustrations by Julie Morstad. I thought she did a WONDERFUL job.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews