Green on Green

PreS-Gr 1–“Yellow the flower./Yellow the seed./Yellow and black the buzzing bee.” Starting in the spring, this gentle verse story follows a small boy, his family, and their friends over the course of one year. Each season brings its own cozy delights, lushly depicted in Sala’s colorful spreads. Whether it’s the child playing in puddles and enjoying spring flowers, exploring the beach and picnicking with family and friends in the summer, savoring autumnal repasts, or caroling in the winter, each scene brims with love, warmth, and rural tranquility. Sharp-eyed readers will enjoy finding elements repeated throughout—a striped lighthouse in the background, the family’s horse and dog, different views of the boy’s house, the mother’s growing belly, and the appearance of a new baby in early spring. Both the mixed media illustrations and White’s pithy verses highlight the special colors of each season, with a soothing refrain of “[color] on green”—yellow in spring, blue in summer, brown in autumn, finally white in winter.