North Country Spring

by Reeve Lindbergh, Liz Sivertson (Illustrator)

The running of rivers, the wild geese returning, the bear cubs stepping out, and the peepers singing - this is the arrival of spring in the north country. Join all manner of north country animals as they respond in their own unique ways to the slow vanishing of the cold, dark winter. Reeve Lindbergh's verse captures the empowering voice of spring in language both poetic and precise, while Liz Sivertson's paintings are as spirited and free as the north itself. Together, poet and painter celebrate the wildness and beauty of a season that can never come too soon.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nature, Poetry

32 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

Children's author, novelist, and poet Reeve Lindbergh is the daughter of world-renowned aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife, the talented writer Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I do think that Reeve Lindbergh’s (and yes, Reeve Lindbergh is the daughter of American aviator of Charles Lindbergh and poet Anne Morrow Lindbergh) rhyming scheme for her 2007 lyrical picture book North Country Spring is for the most part successful and gives a nice song-like quality to Lindbergh’s presented verses, sorry, but personally speaking, I have found the fact that Reeve Lindbergh uses one single all encompassing poem to describe spring in what appears to be northern parts of the United Sates (but not Alaska) rather potentially dragging and tedious for in particular the intended audience (for younger children from about five to eight years of age) and especially so if North Country Spring is to be read aloud. For in my opinion, Reeve Lindbergh penning a series of shorter seasonal poems in North Country Spring would certainly work much better and be much more interest retaining for the so-called picture book crowd than that one long poem of almost thirty pages which is being featured. And yes, my own inner child was indeed and definitely becoming increasingly and intensely bored and distracted at around the half way mark, at around page fifteen of North Country Spring, with even Reeve Lindbergh’s lyricism and her textual celebration of spring in its many forms not being enough, not being able to change the fact that North Country Spring‘s set-up and massive length seem to have the unfortunate tendency to become more than a bit distracting and lyrically, textually frustrating the longer Lindbergh’s only one poem drags on and lasts, (so that by the end of North Country Spring I was in fact really no longer enjoying Reeve Lindbergh’s verses at all and was so bored that I did not even bother perusing the author’s supplemental notes).

But albeit Reeve Lindbergh’s featured poem for North Country Spring is definitely too long and as such too awkward and distracting in a picture book format for me, Lindbergh’s lyrical celebration of spring is still textually enchanting in many places, and that indeed, if I could find Liz Sivertson’s accompanying artwork to be aesthetically pleasant, I would probably be rating North Country Spring with a low but still solid enough three stars.

However, I have to admit that I do not at all consider Liz Siverston’s illustrations as being even remotely visually to my tastes, finding her pictures annoyingly blurry and also generally much too dark and gloomy to provide a decent and reasonable aesthetic mirror to and for a picture book about spring (with in my humble opinion, some of Sivertson’s illustrations also majorly dragging down Reeve Lindbergh’s words, and with the end result thus being that for me the combination of Reeve Lindbergh’s overly long poem and Liz Sivertson’s blurry and often much too dark hued for springtime artwork leave me no choice but to consider only two stars for North Country Spring).

[Kalynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know about you, but when I think of spring, I think of everything waking up, stretching their wings/branches/legs, and taking a deep, deep inhale. This book mirrors those same feelings in words and in illustrations, and takes in a whole community feel to be inclusive of the whole environment and its inhabitants. I once worked with a group of pre-service teachers and we led them into a "How do you know it is spring" inquiry lesson. Something they could implement with their students. This book would be a great addition to that unit. At first I was thinking, especially for those that live where these country spaces were near, but really for everyone, because that would also create a rich discussion.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was curious about this author, Reeve Lindbergh, because I like the book for adults written by her mother, Gifts From the Sea. So far, what I've read by this author is fine and sweet, but not really for me. I'm also not a fan of blurry illustrations.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This poem of animals emerging from winter into spring is beautifully illustrated and wonderfully designed. It was a rhyming text, but the text was careful and clever, and the endnotes include the largest collection of fact in the text. This is a great primary text on animals and poetry. Highly recommended.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have two copies of this book. One that I have torn pages out and framed and one to read. Beautiful beautiful beautiful. Liz Siverston is one of my new favorite artists. I've been to two of her galleries and this book gives you a taste of her talent. Fun.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite children's book. Beautiful, lyrical verse

[Edna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dreamy-like illustrations accompany a Native American-feel of poetic text describing the first days of spring.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am still not a fan of poetry. It's just my thing. I didn't like this all that much, and I can't put a finger on why.

[SKP · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband and I are kind of into reading about the Lindbergh Kidnapping lately, and when I discovered that Reeve Lindbergh is a daughter of Charles and Anne Morris, and that she has written children’s books, I made it a point to get as many as I could. As a retired children’s librarian, I’d apparently read several of her books before without making the Lindbergh connection. Many of them are now out of print, but I got as many as I could via my public library and Amazon marketplace.

That said, this was not my favorite of those I’ve read so far. The illustrations did not have a lot of child appeal, and I didn’t think the poem would hold their interest too.

[Lilia Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This picture book is full of rhymes focusing on animals and aspects of spring in the north country. The writing is very wistful and wordy. Pictures are not my favorite, as they are in a blurred art style. At the end of the book there is a list of animals that were referred to in the rhymes with facts about their hibernation and spring habits.

[Lynna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful rhythm to the oral reading and GREAT illustrations by MN Lizz Siveetson who has an art gallery in Duluth Canal Park and Grand Marais. What a match to the authors words. BEAUTIFUL
Celebration of Spring.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alissa's favorite animals were the brown bear cubs. They remind me of Sweetie Girl who is missing.

07.24.2020 Sweet Girl was eventually found. I know this because today when Alissa unpacked a box of her belongings we had been saving for her - there was Sweetie Girl.

[Christina Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

May is learning about Spring. Spring calls out to all the animals. The text is not bad. It describes the animals and what they do when spring arrives. The illustrations on the other had are soft and blurred. Sometimes it's hard to understand what is happening on the page.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The voice and promise of spring come through in the wonderful invitational short poems and the lovely painted illustrations in this book.

[DiAnne Warfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

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