Spring for Sophie

PreS-Gr 1—"When will spring be here?" Sophie asks. "The first way to tell if spring is coming is to listen for it," her mother replies. So Sophie listens. Werber's simple, lyrical text reflects the comfort and creeping pace of winter. As she waits for spring, Sophie uses each of her five senses to listen for the return of birdsong, feel the earth thawing, look for signs of green, sniff for damp earth, and taste spring raindrops. Hill's wonderful textured watercolor illustrations convey the chilly wonder of exploring a white and slate gray landscape and the snug warmth of family afternoons on a fleecy rug by the fire. In their drabber colors, Sophie and her family seem to melt in the periphery, while each spread centers on a splotch of vivid red somewhere on Sophie's figure. This ends with the last spread, where the red house is shadowy in the background while a jubilant Sophie catches raindrops in her yellow rain slicker. Readers will linger over the books scattered across the living room floor (including the illustrator's other works) and the spectrum of songbirds scattered in the bare branches. The real attraction, though, is the radiating sense of winter coziness and serenity.