Sharing the Seasons: a book of poems

Bibliography

Hopkins, Lee Bennet. 2010. Ill. By David Diaz. SHARING THE SEASONS: A BOOK OF POEMS. New York, NY: Margaret K. McElderry Books. ISBN: 9781416902102.

Review:

In Sharing the Season, Lee Bennet Hopkins has selected an array of poems that celebrate each season of the year. There are 48 poems in all with each season receiving 12 poems. Hopkins's collections features many talented poets such as Marilyn Singer, Carl Sandburg, and even several by Hopkins himself. Many of the poems display various patterns as well as similes. Personification is also used as in Karla Kuskin's “Moon, Have you met my mother?” in which the snow says it can make everything more beautiful even “warehouses, train tracks, and old fence, cement. Readers of every age will love to read this collection and the long wintry days and warm cozy autumns of their memories.

Excerpt: “Winter” by Lee Bennet Hopkins

Snowballs
snow people
icicles
frost.

always-
always-
a mitten or two lost

scarves
boots
earmuffs
sleighs

and
books
to curl up with
on
long
wintry
days.

Introducing the poem:

Although the book and the poems are a little more advanced for young readers, even the youngest of readers will be drawn in by Diaz's illustrations. Bright yellows and pinks color springtime and summer, warm brown and orange depict autumn, and winter is wrapped in soft white and blue. This collection is easy to introduce to a class as it follows the seasons and major holidays. Many of the poems could be introduced at the beginning of the day to welcome the season and celebrate the holiday.