Ms. Claudia’s top spring books for older and younger children

If you live in the part of the world where Spring is a time of melting snow, blossoms in the trees, bunnies in the meadow, raindrops on tulips, then your children can be easily exposed to the lushness and beauty that can inspire poetic language in their stories! For me and my family who live in Singapore, we do not have clear-cut seasons, and spring, usually still hot and humid, is just like the rest of the year! It doesn’t mean springtime in Singapore is not beautiful. It is stunning in its own way, but it does help to read stories to my children so they can understand the happiness, beauty, and optimism that spring usually represents.

There are so many books about spring, but the ones I have chosen, especially those for the older children, can specifically be used to teach figurative language such as similes, metaphors, and “Show not tell” sentences.

For now, I will need to rely on books to transport my children to an enchanted spring that is different from the experience we have in Singapore.

For pre-school & kindergarten and up 

When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes

Very simple story with beautiful illustrations that describes what happens when spring takes over winter.  Especially since some of us live in parts of Asia where signs of spring are not as apparent, this book is a nice one to show our children what spring looks like in other parts of the word: pussy willows, cherry blossoms, mud puddles… 

Little Blue Truck’s Springtime By: Alice Schertle 

The book takes you on little blue truck’s ride as it visits baby animals that are just born on the farm.  The story rhymes and lots of fun onomatopoeia! 

Mouse’s First Spring  By Lauren Thompson 

“One windy spring day, Mommy and Mouse went out to play…”

Mouse sees the glittery flittery butterfly, slittery slimy snail, green and peeping frog, feather and plump bird …

This story brings spring to life with its unique descriptions of baby animals!

For older children (G1 and up)

The Little Gardener By Emily Hughes

This is a meaningful story about a gardener whose garden meant a lot to him.  Because the child was too little, it was very challenging for him to manage the garden, but a beautiful flower that he spotted one day gave him hope to not give up.  The illustrations in this book are magical, and the story teaches children about persistence and transformation. 

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring By Kenard Pak 

This is a poetic story with short phrases that describe a boy and his dog as they explore nature and take a stroll through the countryside. He has a series of conversations from the winter brook to winter storm, and as winter thaws, he welcomes the budding flowers, running brook …  the lushness of spring!

Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms by Julia Rawlinson

The Fletcher series are all very well written with lots of figurative language that your child can model their writing from. This book will last a long time!

Spring for Sophie BY: Yael Werber 

“Well Sophie, you will need to use your eyes and nose to tell when spring is here” 

From snowy days to grey skies, Sophie watches and waits and wonders if spring will ever come.  This inspiriting book is filled with beautiful illustrations and descriptions of spring that encourage us to use our senses to identify the changing seasons! 

Finally, these are two beautifully illustrated books that I think can be appreciated by both kids and adults. Both books are written by and illustrated by Kevin Henkes who is the author of “When Spring Comes” which I introduced earlier.