This is designed as a non-fiction text for emergent readers. It has beautiful, bright, colourful images take up most of the pages. The text is simple facts, sometimes followed by questions that will promote discussion and develop understanding further. Guidance is provided for parents on how to use this book with their child(ren) to promote reading and understanding. The book contains 85 different words and these are listed, identifying those which are high frequency and others that are content words.

Teachers could also easily use this book to introduce non-fiction texts to pupils or to help promote interest and discussion relating to the seasons and, in this case, the Spring. The bright images will appeal to pupils and they will easily relate to most of them. This is the sort of book that young children will probably return to look through time and time again - delightful and great for encouraging interest in the world around them, including reading about it!

Thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley, too, for letting me read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderful, bright beautiful photographs bring this book to life for young readers learning about the season of spring. A great addition to any school or children's library.

Spring, by Mary Lindeen (July 2015, Norwood House Press), $16.95, ISBN: 9781599536798

Recommended for ages 3-6

Seasonal books are great for young readers. Preschool teachers always request them, they're great nonfiction picks for storytime, they pair really well with a related fiction choice, and you can tie super-fun crafts in with them.

Prolific children's author Mary Lindeen's newest seasonal book, Spring, is a great choice for school and public libraries alike. There are beautiful, bright pictures of springtime images and multicultural children enjoying the season, easy to read text, loaded with sight words for new readers, and parent/teacher resources in the back, including a list of the 85 words included in the book, plus discussion questions. This book is already on my to-order list for my libraries, because I can't keep seasonal books on the shelf long enough - like I said, everyone loves them.

You can find more books on Spring from Norwood House at their website, and a partial list of Mary Lindeen's work on Goodreads.

3.5 stars

Coming from outside the U.S. I associate rain more with fall/autumn than spring, but this does a good job of introducing and illustrating words for beginning readers and posing questions for discussion. The colorful pictures show children of many different ethnicities enjoying the outdoors, and even little children will like the pictures of lambs, bunnies, and tractors.

Great nonfiction for the beginning reader! The photos are gorgeous and fit the high-frequency-word text. And everyone loves spring!