Celebrate SPRING with Picture Books by Kevin Henkes
Spring is finally here!
One of my favorite ways (besides getting outside!) to nurture in my kids a connection with the natural world is through books! In this post I share some favorite picture books by Kevin Henkes that are perfect for celebrating the return of spring. These books have simple but lovely text and illustrations. All three of my kids have enjoyed these titles, but I especially love that my 6yo, a beginning reader, can read these titles with a small amount of help from mama. I try to have her read a book to me each day, and while there are many wonderful easy readers, sometimes it is fun to read a big lovely picture book together instead. Many of these titles are available in both large hardcover and board book formats.
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My 6yo enjoying looking at the illustrations in Old Bear. Bear is dreaming of sleeping in a crocus. |
Egg
Four eggs. One big surprise! Super simple text with illustrations that help tell a funny sweet story. Most small children could easily memorize this book.
Four eggs. One big surprise! Super simple text with illustrations that help tell a funny sweet story. Most small children could easily memorize this book.
Little White Rabbit
This book describes rabbit's adventures using predictable sentence patterns (perfect for beginning readers!) alternating with full spread illustrations without words (a la The Runaway Bunny). Fun and imaginative.
This book describes rabbit's adventures using predictable sentence patterns (perfect for beginning readers!) alternating with full spread illustrations without words (a la The Runaway Bunny). Fun and imaginative.
Old Bear
What do hibernating bears dream about? Here is one set of possibilities. One thing is for sure. When a bear wakes up, it's spring!
A Good Day
A bad day for four little animals is transformed into a good day for all in this colorfully illustrated story that any child can relate to.
When Spring Comes
Birds
These two books are written by Kevin Henkes but illustrated by Laura Dronzek, a fact which sparked some interesting discussion with my older daughter (who loves to write and illustrate her own books) about why a talented illustrator such as Kevin Henkes would choose to have someone else illustrate his books. These two picture books have such a wonderful marriage of text and illustration. When Spring Comes celebrates all the wonderful firsts that signal the return of spring. Birds is not a title specifically about spring, but to me birds mean spring, and an abundance of bird song in the morning is one of my favorite signs that spring has returned. I really adore this book, which includes the wonderful line: "If birds made marks with their tail feathers when they flew, think what the sky would look like."
Sometimes when I go to the library and I'm browsing the shelves, I just end up checking out a bunch of books by the same author. That's what happened here. I was looking for a specific book by Kevin Henkes, and then saw all these other wonderful springy titles next to it and thought, what better way to celebrate spring with all my kiddos, but especially with my beginning reader.
What do hibernating bears dream about? Here is one set of possibilities. One thing is for sure. When a bear wakes up, it's spring!
A Good Day
A bad day for four little animals is transformed into a good day for all in this colorfully illustrated story that any child can relate to.
When Spring Comes
Birds
These two books are written by Kevin Henkes but illustrated by Laura Dronzek, a fact which sparked some interesting discussion with my older daughter (who loves to write and illustrate her own books) about why a talented illustrator such as Kevin Henkes would choose to have someone else illustrate his books. These two picture books have such a wonderful marriage of text and illustration. When Spring Comes celebrates all the wonderful firsts that signal the return of spring. Birds is not a title specifically about spring, but to me birds mean spring, and an abundance of bird song in the morning is one of my favorite signs that spring has returned. I really adore this book, which includes the wonderful line: "If birds made marks with their tail feathers when they flew, think what the sky would look like."
Sometimes when I go to the library and I'm browsing the shelves, I just end up checking out a bunch of books by the same author. That's what happened here. I was looking for a specific book by Kevin Henkes, and then saw all these other wonderful springy titles next to it and thought, what better way to celebrate spring with all my kiddos, but especially with my beginning reader.
Here are links to all our favorite picture book read-alouds by subject:
- History & Social Science Picture Books (includes biography)
- Math Picture Books
- Science & Nature Picture Books
- Poetry & Shakespeare Picture Books
- Art & Music Picture Books
- Audiobooks for the Whole Family
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