Seasons

by Melvin A. Berger

Describes, in simple text and illustrations, the seasons and the effect they have on the earth

45 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Miri Gifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

It looks like this book is kind of hard to find, which is a shame, because I think it's a fantastic resource for kids who want to really know about the seasons—not just that trees lose their leaves in the fall, but things like what causes the changes (the tilt of the earth on its axis) and where the seasonal holidays came from. It includes pretty detailed information about plant and animal activity for each season—which animals hibernate and which estivate (a word I didn't even know before now; it's like hibernation, but in the summer with desert animals), how different kinds of trees spread their seeds so they'll grow next spring, and how the Native Americans used to move from their villages to the maple forests in the spring, when the sap starts running in the trees and they could make syrup.

I especially liked the histories of the holidays, most of which are still celebrated in some form today. In the spring there's the Japanese holiday of Shumbun-no-hi, where people visit the graves of their family members and have picnics; Tu b'Shevat, Purim, and Passover for Jews; Easter for Christians; and April Fools' Day, which apparently dates to when France made January 1 the start of the new year instead of April 1, but some people refused to change and were called "April fools" and given silly gifts like a bouquet of onion plants instead of flowers. There's a lot of information, but they're big pages with large illustrations, so it isn't overwhelming.