Moon for Seasons, A - Hardcover

Turner, Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0027895130 ISBN 13: 9780027895131

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 1994

Synopsis

Twenty-eight short, expressive poems capture the diverse ways in which the landscape and its inhabitants change with the seasons. By the author of Katie's Trunk.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

Known for historical fiction (Katie's Trunk, 1992, etc.), Turner's also an accomplished poet (Grass Songs, 1993). Here she turns to nature in a tightly structured cycle of 28 (a lunar number) short poems about the seasons in a northeastern woodland. Each of four septets opens with a poem about the moon, and the entire cycle is stitched together by recurrent appearances of other ``characters'': an owl, a porcupine, herons, and especially frogs, whose activities Turner employs (as Marilyn Singer used bullheads in Turtle in July) as emblems of seasonal change. There is also an ``I'' that ``tastes sky'' (snowflakes), looks through a telescope at geese flying across the moon, sits under a maple lapped by ``waves'' of light and shadow, and buries bones found in the forest with a ``blessing of leaves.'' Noreika's full-bleed watercolors capture the varied lights and colors of weather, time, and seasons. His most dramatic painting, accompanying ``Forest Time,'' a poem about ``death's sundial'' (a circle of feathers marking the spot where an owl has killed a blue jay), shows an unsuspecting jay overlaid by the owl's shadow just before it strikes. Spare and serious; memorable images, verbal and visual. (Poetry/Picture book. 6+) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 4-Turner's short poems, arranged by season, beckon readers to woods, pond, and farmhouse backyard, where time is measured by the changing moon. Readers will recognize some familiar scenes-frozen sheets drying on the line, the appearance of the first red maple leaves, and watching the river from a special "sitting rock." Other images, such as frogs waiting for spring in the muddy pond bottom, capture nature in her more private moments. Noreika's realistic watercolors bring the appealing landscapes vividly to life. The illustrations follow the detail of the poems precisely, with a palette inspired by the changing seasons they celebrate. The art echoes Turner's perfect balance of quiet scenes (falling snow, shadows on the water) with frantic, even vicious moments (an owl swoops to catch a blue jay, a porcupine is caught in a night gale). This collection will be appreciated by readers familiar with the world the poet describes, but is also a wonderful antidote for summer in the city. Pair it with Nancy White Carlstrom's How Does the Wind Walk? (Macmillan, 1993), a poem that follows the wind through its seasonal changes.
Lisa S. Murphy, formerly at Dauphin County Library System, Harrisburg, PA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0027895130
• ISBN 13: 9780027895131
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Noreika Robert