Spring Walk by Virginia Brimhall Snow (Grimms Smith, 2019) is a refreshing spring book. The book’s focus is two-fold. First there are light, black-and-white line illustrations and a simply rhyming text. In this, the author-illustrator shows children going for a nature walk in a garden with Grammy. Then, in the foreground on each page is a brightly colored drawn blossom, a macroview showing the details in larger-than-life fashion. The name of the flower also takes center stage with this illustration, with the word also in a bright color.
The lines of text makes it a accessible as a read aloud, and the naturally rhyming story ties each of the background scenes together. But my favorite part is the samples of specific flower blossoms on each page. My daughter and I loved pouring through the book, looking at the variety of flowers. I was glad to see that the flowers were also named in the end matter, along with the sketch of the bush, flower, or tree it grows on, so we could match the blossom to the bush. In my daughter’s science notebook, I traced the blossoms and she colored them in.
I am one of those people who has an “identify this” app on my device to figure out if what I’m looking at is a weed or not. Maybe that’s why I loved this springy book so much. It may help me identify which blossoms I see are flower blossoms. (Chances are, thought, that most things in my yard are weeds!)
The combination of background story and prominent flower makes it a desired book for any person, child or adult, interested in springtime and flowers. A gardener will love this walk among flowers! One can read through the book looking at flowers or enjoy listening to the story or browse through the illustrated action of the grammy and children in the background. It’s a lovely book, perfect for springtime!
