A Little Book About Spring

by Leo Lionni, Julie Hamilton

A new board book for the youngest fans of Leo Lionni--inspired by his bestselling books and perfect for Easter and springtime reading!

Spring is a time of budding trees, chirping birds, and croaking frogs. Discover these and more wonders of spring in this delightful board book inspired by the works of legendary children's book author-illustrator Leo Lionni. With sturdy pages and colorful collage-style artwork, this spring-themed book is perfect for boys and girls ages 0 to 5.

Leo's Lionni's Friends is a series of fresh, fun board books inspired by the classic works of author and illustrator Leo Lionni to introduce his work to a new generation of readers.

Don't miss there other books in the series:

A Little Book About Colors
A Little Book About ABC's
A Little Book About 123's

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Nature

52 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2019

About the author

Leo Lionni wrote and illustrated more than 40 highly acclaimed children's books. He received the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal and was a four-time Caldecott Honor Winner--for Inch by Inch, Frederick, Swimmy, and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse. Leo Lionni died in October of 1999 at his home in Tuscany, Italy, at the age of 89.

Leo Lionni has gained international renown for his paintings, graphic designs, illustrations, and sculpture, as well as for his books for children. He was born in Holland in 1910 of Dutch parents, and although his education did not include formal art courses (in fact, he has a doctorate in economics from the University of Genoa), he spent much of his free time as a child in Amsterdam's museums, teaching himself to draw.

Lionni's business training gradually receded into the background as his interest in art and design grew. Having settled in Milan soon after his marriage in 1931, he started off by writing about European architecture for a local magazine. It was there that he met the contacts who were to give him a start as a professional graphic designer. When he moved to America in 1939, Lionni was hired by a Philadelphia advertising agency as art director. Later he became design director for the Olivetti Corporation of America, and then art director for Fortune magazine. At the same time, his reputation as an artist flourished as he began to exhibit his paintings and drawings in galleries from New York to Japan.

Lionni launched his career as an author/illustrator of books for children in 1959. Originally developed from a story he had improvised for his grandchildren during a dull train ride, Little Blue and Little Yellow was the first of what is now a long list of children's picture books, including four Caldecott Honor Books.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the artwork of Leo Lionni and it is very much his style, but it’s not my favorite work of his. This is a book for a very young child. I got this not knowing it was such a beginning book.

The nephew thought the mice were cute, and it was quick, but he said this was to young for him. He didn’t like it. (He choses the time when he reads these beginning books. If he isn’t in the mood, then it offends him.) He gave this 2 stars.

I thought it was cute and it’s an ode to Spring.

[Bea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little wordy for toddlers and could use a more rhythmic text but the artwork is joyful and appealing. Lionni touches on aspects of spring - sound, smell - that will be relevant to young children. It's good to have other senses appealed to besides sight and touch. The true test will be how my class of 12 - 20 month old toddlers react to the book.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

First sentence: Hello, Spring. I'm so glad to see you. You make the trees bud...the flowers bloom...and the baby birds chirp in their nests.

Premise/plot: This book features classic illustrations and/or illustrations inspired by Leo Lionni's classic characters. This board book celebrates the season of SPRING.

My thoughts: I wish it was a little bit more transparent who did what when. The two people credited with the work are Leo Lionni and Julie Hamilton. Yet it doesn't say who wrote the text or who did the illustrations. The characters are all Leo Lionni. But is Julie Hamilton just illustrating in the style of Leo Lionni? Did she write the text to accompany the illustrations? If she didn't write the text, who did? (Leo Lionni has been dead since 1999.)

Regardless of all that, is the story good? It is what it is. I personally will never get gushy about a book celebrating seasons. The text is simple and predictable. Not a bad thing for a concept board book about a season of the year. (Weather is usually more simple and predictable in children's books than in real life.) But I do like it.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a darling little book for Spring. Full of cheerful colors and Leo Lionni's sweet textured little mice, this is a board book gem. It holds charming characters, excellent vocabulary words, and plenty of playful Spring. A great addition to the Leo Lionni collection and your toddler bookshelf.

*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

[Rebecca Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet one on one read with happy and adorable pictures. I loved how some pages can be done with interactive noises.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mister loved this. Sweet illustrations and simple text. Would love to use this in a storytime.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this simple board book about spring and it's effect on nature. Toddler and up

[Liz De Coster · Rating 3 out of 5]

She loves the mice repurposed from Lionni's other books, and there's some good vocab words in here. I think it's missing some of the charm of his more narrative titles, but the other concept books from this series have been popular (A Little Book about 123s especially).

[Arielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little book all about spring.

[Sarah T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute, short book about spring stuff. This would be a good storytime book at my outreach daycare site of 2-4 year olds, especially the youngest ones.

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a sweet book with Lionni’s classic mice discovering spring. They look at tree buds, flowers blooming, and sit in a bird’s nest with the babies. They listen to the buzzing of the bees, the frogs in the pond, and the bunnies in the grass. They smell the freshly cut grass, roses, and lilies. They play in the rain and the mud and marvel at the rainbow. This is a lovely little book for babies and toddlers.

[Cristina Di Matteo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un piccolo gioiello di delicatezza e poesia visiva, *A Little Book About Spring* celebra la stagione della rinascita attraverso i colori e la semplicità inconfondibile di Leo Lionni. Con parole essenziali e illustrazioni dolci, il libro accompagna i più piccoli alla scoperta dei segni della primavera — fiori, insetti, amicizia e meraviglia. Un albo perfetto per introdurre i bambini alla bellezza della natura e al ritmo gentile delle stagioni.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bright illustrations and easy, lyrical story.

[Annese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute!

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a board book this is appealing. It is the fact the Leo Lionni’s signature mice are combined with an another illustrator’s work to produce this series of board books leaves me perplexed. Sorry, but all Icould think of was Lionni’s body of work as a read this which isn’t fair to this endeavor which is a perfectly good stand alone title but.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute little kids board book about spring. A little on the young side for Stella (26 months). Cute animals, talks about spring sounds and activities, good for more discussion with Stella. Maybe try when baby brother is a little bit younger.

[Erin Woodall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very sweet children's book. The pictures are very eye catching.

[Kiyoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

We enjoyed counting all the different items on the pages. Fun young read-aloud.

[L.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous illustrations and some nice alliteration

[Emily Storytime · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute little ode to spring. A mouse notices flowers, baby birds, etc., and thanks Spring for coming.

[Jonathan Ahmadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute

[Melenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute

[Addie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. 21 month old liked it

[Library To-Go · Rating 3 out of 5]

05/08/24 PediaTrust story time -JC

[Pug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet, and these mice are super-cute.

[Emily✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little ode to spring. A mouse notices flowers, baby birds, etc., and thanks Spring for coming.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet little book about spring with collage illustrations.