Poems for Every Season

Gr 3-5–Pixies, fairies, gnomes, and ghosts, along with hedgehogs, wagtails, celandines, and many other animals and plants, appear frequently in this poetic collection of tributes to each of the four seasons. Published in magazines during the 1920s and 1930s as Blyton’s series books were gaining popularity, these 177 poems are formed in rhyming verse, varying in length, complexity, and rhyme scheme. Most appear one to a page, but others continue unexpectedly as readers turn the page. Blyton’s uneven skill as a poet, unfamiliar English wildlife, and the many pixies intersperse with bits of humor and widely experienced aspects of the seasons. Cameron’s simple sketches, softly shaded in green, feature leafy borders on some pages and corner elements on others. Flowers drift or grow, animals appear, and there are plenty of little pixies and a few odd elements. What are scissors and a pin cushion doing out here? Several page settings are used repeatedly, and some pages contain just a scattering of small circles and stars. Occasionally, the pleasant background does include a bit of illustration for a poem. A long list of acknowledgments cites the publication source and date for each poem, but the book contains no information about Blyton or Cameron. The mingling of fairy folk and natural history may muddle some readers. An entire collection in rhyming verse contrasts greatly with today’s poetic variety and now may seem quaint.