Handsprings

by Douglas Florian

Twenty–nine poems about spring are illustrated with Douglas Florian's distinctive and buoyant watercolours and extol the many virtues of the season–from those muddy puddles and emerging bulbs to rain showers and rainbows and that first day without mittens. Concrete poems, humour, ingenious wordplay, and audience appeal make this a consummate companion to the acclaimed poet's first three seasonal collections.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens

48 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2006

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

So with regard to the selection of twenty-nine springtime poems Douglas Florian presents, his 2006 picture book Handsprings is in my humble opinion utterly delightful in and of itself, and as such, with Handsprings, Florian does not only show with his smorgasbord of varied and diverse spring themed verses a glowing and delightfully caressing poetic celebration of spring as the season of rebirth, of nature reawakening, of gradual warming after winter’s chills and snows, no, Douglas Florian also presents a select few poems in Handsprings that are not altogether positive concerning spring, he also shows and thankfully seems to understand that not everyone automatically loves everything about spring (which I most definitely do very much appreciate, as personally, I often do seem to rather overtly prefer winter to spring, as the amount of mud, rainstorms and the like that can sometimes and far too often be encountered in spring, this does sometimes really and massively tend to annoy and frustrate me and especially so when everyone is waxing poetic about how glorious spring is and I am huddling inside watching dreary rain and cleaning my muddy shoes and jeans).

And furthermore, to and for me, with Handsprings Douglas Florian not only thematically shines with his springtime verses, but also and equally poetically and textually so, with Florian showing to his readers (both young and old) a diverse and successfully rendered variety of many different poetic forms (from traditional rhymes to blank verse, lists and even some concrete poetry), and thus making Handsprings not just a lyrical celebration of spring but also a great general introduction to poetry in general. Five stars for Douglas Florian’s presented spring themed poetry, but yes, my final rating for Handsprings will be four and not five stars, as personally, the accompanying artwork (while certainly bright and cherry) is just a bit too human being centred and too naively unrealistic for me (and as such, while Douglas Florian’s poems in Handsprings do work really well on a textual, on a lyrical level, his illustrations really just do not aesthetically cut it for me, neither as a visual mirror to and for the featured poetry nor even all that much as a decorative trim).

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally reading the fourth of the set. As could be expected, the "What I Hate About Spring" poem really stretches; after all, what's not to like about spring besides, for some regions, mud?

_*The March Wind*_

The March wind growls.
The March wind howls.
The March wind rattles
And skedaddles.
The March wind whips
And whirls and skips.
Through the larches
The March wind marches.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture books takes you on a journey through spring and shows you all that spring has to offer. This book is full of many different poems that really make you feel like you are going through the motions of spring. Not only are the poems amazing, but so are the illustrations that Douglas Florian created himself.

I would use this book in in a 3rd or 4th grade classroom. I would use this book in multiple ways in those classrooms. For starters, this books poems are all written in different styles, there are some where the words look like rain drops going down the page and there are some that look like a handspring. The poems match what the author is talking about and I think that is a really good concept to bring up to students, that poems do not always have to be from left to right, they can be different and creative. Another way I would use this is could be during a class meeting (like in Dr. Koch class) where we need to connect to a current event. The current event in this case would be the first day of Spring. Students could read this book and learn all about what spring is and all the many different components of spring. Lastly, I could use this book just to talk about poetry in general, we would talk about how not all poems have to rhyme every word, or be boring. Instead, poems can have fun and beautiful illustrations, they can rhyme but they do not have too, they can be silly or serious. I think this book is a wonderful example of a way to teach students that poetry is not all the same and that they are very creative.

This book was a WOW book for me because it really reminded me how much fun poetry can be. As we get older I feel like people move away from the Cat in the Hat and more towards poetry that has deep meaning. I think this book really reminded me how poetry can be fun and different, they don't have to write left to right, they can, if they want write the words as rain drops. I also really liked it because it took a simple thing like Spring and made it so interesting and fun to read about. This book was definitely a WOW book for me because it really reminded me that I love poetry.

[Janet Squires · Rating 5 out of 5]

You'll find a fun combination of rhyme for young children to pantomime plus puns and sophisticated wordplay for older students. From the title poem: "Spring is great/ for growing grass./ Spring has zing/ and spring has sass..." and so does this book.

[Celia Buell · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Handsprings was a collection of poems written by children, I think I would appreciate it a lot more. As such, though, I do think it would make a good mentor text for kids (along with Florian's other seasonal poetry books depending on the time of year).

In a lot of ways, Florian's poems are a little too list-y for my taste, even as children's poetry. I'm used to poetry having a story, and most of these poems just don't. As I said before, this format could be good for beginning to introduce poetry writing for kids. I do appreciate the visual imagery that a lot of these poems invoke. One fun activity might be to read some of the poems to students without showing them the illustrations (which, I will admit, also look like they were created by children, and I wish they were). I would have kids draw their own illustrations to go with the poems. Then I would show them the illustrations in the book. Did kids think of the poems in the same way as Florian did?

However, I don't know if I would use this (or Florian's other seasonal collections) to teach poetry with the wide repertoire of other (better in my opinion) poetry books for children.

*Read for: Children's Book group (Picture Book Club) - March 2023 Holidays Scavenger Hunt - Spring

[Susan Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many delightful bite-sized poems about Spring capturing the daily thrills of welcoming green and flowers and the earth waking up, rain and mud, all of it getting the poetic treatment and the artist and poet, Florian's, usual lovely interpretations and revelations about his topics. A great book for teachers looking for a Spring read or a poetry lesson for April's poetry month.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea who I'd share this with; my kids would have spotted this as poetry and fled the room. But I enjoyed the simplistic illustrations and the poems, and even spotted one I wanted to keep. The images and feelings did a great job of evoking Spring.

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

p.13 Rhyming poem

[Alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some really enjoyable little poems about winter and spring.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary (CIP): Twenty–nine poems about spring are illustrated with Douglas Florian's distinctive and buoyant watercolours and extol the many virtues of the season. Concrete poems, humour, ingenious wordplay, and audience appeal make this a consummate companion to the acclaimed poet's first three seasonal collections.

REVIEW: This volume of short seasonally based poems focuses on Spring, finishing Florian’s quartet on the seasons. Many great emotions are captured in the art and with succinct rhyme and rhythm, including the interminably long wait for Spring to really arrive. Many poems are only 6-8 lines long and would be great for preschool Storytimes.

Booklist: Positive.
"Preschoolers will have fun chanting and acting out the rhyme and repetition; older kids will like all the puns and wordplay--from the book title to "Spring succeeds ex-seed-ing-ly.""

Kirkus Reviews: Positive.
"Teachers in the early elementary grades will find this volume a breath of fresh air for poetry studies in the last months of the school year."

[(NS) Laura Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology book of poems. The topics of poems include winter, spring, mud, playing ball, rain, leaves, berries, and other topics about nature. The majority of the poems relate back to springtime, describing the season and things to do in the spring. The anthology of poems includes various ways to write a poem. All of the poems are fairly short in length, but differ in structure and types of stanzas. Many of the poems generate word play and puns, which would be appropriate for older children. The illustrations in this book were created with both watercolor and colored pencils. I think that these poems are beautifully written and would be great to use in the classroom. The book demonstrates many different ways to create a poem about many different ideas. The book would be a great mentor text to use with students during a poetry unit. This book would be appropriate for second through fifth grade.

[NS Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of 29 poems that include the topics of spring, winter, rain, seasonal activities, and other topics about nature. What I enjoyed most about this book was the variety of poems within it. The structure of each varied, but yet they were all simple and short. It would be a great book to use with older elementary students when introducing different types of poetry. The illustrations in the book were also very appealing. The use of watercolor helps captivate the feeling of springtime. Students can use this poetry collection to view different ways they can write about one particular subject. When writing about spring you can focus on the flowers, the rain, or jumping in puddles! Each gives a different viewpoint on the same topic.

[Mary Cate]

This is a book of children's poetry. All of the poems are about spring, although they incorporate other seasons and many varied themes, like months and weather. This book has a lot of different types of poem, from rhyming to free verse, short and long, standard and shaped. This book would be great for a child interested in poetry, a unit on spring, or a way to show how one subject can be shaped into many poems.

[Gloria Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing
The days are growing longer
the sun is growing stronger
the weather is growing milder
the weeds are growing wilder
the plants are growing bloomy
my grin is growing roomy.

this book is a good read for children that like poetry,it has a bunch of little cheerful poems and the author wrote it and painted all the pictures. the picture are very nice and has good detail.

[Kristina Bulluck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book about springtime. The pictures were very child friendly as if children did them themselves. That would make a child more interested in looking at them.

Sometimes Spring

Sometimes Sun
And sometimes rain---
Spring is one big daisy chain
Sometimes warm
And sometimes chilly---
Spring is a silly daffodilly.

Douglas Florian

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

for two years in a row, now, this has been a book i've loved reading in February. it's full of short, strong poems about springtime. i can already hear baseballs and the march winds rushing. florian's season poetry books are my favorites of all his many books.

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

poems! i love this little book of poems that are all entirely about spring. what's good about spring, what's bad about it. what people do during spring, what people don't do during spring. illustrations are awesome, one of four other books about the three other seasons by douglas florian.

[Katharine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not our favorite - some are great for phonics and early reading, some are great descriptors of things ("Rain Song"). Some are dull, like a list of great and not-great things about spring and spring cleaning.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read many of Douglas Florian's collections, but this might be one of my favorites. An entire book of poems all about spring--he captures all the nuances of this season nicely. I like the variety of poetic form and his paintings.

[JoEllen Mccarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Florian's work. This text has paintings and poems that celebrate spring. One of a series....autumnblings, summersaults,winter eyes...

[Kim Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book of poems. They are short and easy to read. I used one poem from this book for my phonics lesson involviong the inflectional ending "ing".

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Douglas Florian! His poems and paintings inspire me to do more with art and poetry. My favorite poem in this collection is entitled "Nature Walk". I highly recommend his books!

[Meghna Lipcon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rain rain go away come again another day