Spring Is Here

by Taro Gomi

Text and pictures take us through a year of seasons beginning when spring arrives and a calf is born.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Animals, Spanish Literature, Asian Literature

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Taro Gomi (五味太郎) is a major children’s illustrator and writer. He has more than 400 book titles to his credit. His work has been widely translated into 15 other languages.


Tarō was born in Tokyo and he graduated from ID department, Kuwazawa Design Institute. His readers range from babies to adults, with an equal number of fans overseas. His work has been appreciated considerably with both domestic and international honours such as the Sankei Jido Shuppan Bunka Award, Bologna Children's Book Fair Award among others.


Along with authoring children's books, he is well-known in the fields of Stationery design, clothing design, production of young children's animated videos, CD-ROMs, essays etc.


His popular books published in English include Everyone Poops, Santa Through the Window, Where's the Fish?, My Friends and The Crocodile and the Dentist.

Reviews

[Kellee Moye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read by Mac Barnett on IG 5/7/20

[mairead! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for the first time last year in A's emtpy nursery, lying on the floor. Read again yesterday, lying on the floor of the dining room in her play/reading corner. My kind of calming, cyclical book.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

While incorporating the change in seasons and giving an introduction to Spanish, Spring is Here by Taro Gomi is a great book for nursery-preschool ages and up. This book is very well written and has a simple story line that is educational in itself. The outstanding artwork is what sticks out the most to me, which is what the children would respond to the best because at nursery age they will not be able to read, but they will be able to recognize the pictures that are illustrated. The pictures are shown in what seems to be water colors were done by the author as well. In my opinion, it is helpful that the author is the illustrator as well because he can get his point across much easier and it helps the book flow. Gomi gives a simple description of each season by showing what either the weather, animals, etc. do during that specific season. The artwork contributes a great deal to the book because it tells the story more and kids can better understand what is going on. On the front cover, there is simple black and white typography with a pink background because the author-illustrator wants to focus more on the illustration because that is what the children will be looking for. Inside of the book, there is lots of movement within each picture such as the wind blowing the grass which Gomi portrays as summer going into fall. The texture of the illustrations is what causes the movement and really sets the mood and tone for the book. People such as teachers for younger ages could use this book with any thing such as jsut having it in the classroom for anyone to read. Lastly, I just want to say that I really enjoyed this book and rate it as 5 stars!

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Picture Book- Board Book
Awards: none
Audience: Before school-aged up to Pre-K
A. I know this book is a board book because of the hard and thick pages, easy to hold and turn. I also know it is a book for small children because of it's simple colors, easily recognizable animal, and simple words for being read to.
B. This author uses a lot of color, and often only two main colors to a page. The colors the author uses are simple colors, which can be good to use when practicing color recognition with a child. The author also practices a lot of two-color pages, as previously mentioned, where the top half is one color, and the bottom half is a contrasting color. Oftentimes, the author uses the cow in the picture as the breaking point between the two colors.
C. I would use this book with a single child, possibly as a one-on-one story time before bed. The child could hold the book and turn the pages, I would read the words, following along with my finger. This would help the child see that I am reading words that are on the page, and would also help with practicing the skill of knowing when to turn the page, and which page to turn. I would also use this to practice color recognition with a child, and to identify a calf as a baby cow.
D. What animal is featured in this book? A cow is the animal shown in this book.

[Julia Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taro Gomi is Japanese, and the color palettes and landscapes in each of these books feel like a refreshing departure from many other primary-colored, barnyard-set titles on our shelf. And Spring is Here has an especially gentle, calming effect.

When our niece was little, she had three Taro Gomi books: Spring is Here, My Friends, and Bus Stops. My husband fell in love with them all and we started gifting them to friends who had kids, and they were among the first we bought when we had a baby ourselves. Of the three, Spring is Here has the most "arc" - not exactly a plot, but we do watch the seasons make a full circle - so if you are the type of reader who gets bored with baby books that don't have a plot, bear that in mind.

[Allison Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early Primary

Informational Nonfiction

This story has very few words but very good implications. It could start a lot of discussions about spring and the new growth that occurs. It also contains simple illustrations that would be easy to identify. This would be a good read for very beginning readers simply because the sentences only contain 3 words on each page, but it isn't too simplified that it doesn't make sense!

[Megan Hosinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Informational Nonfiction
Grade Level: K-2
This is a really good book about the seasons. I like how the book acknowledges something good about each season, especially that even winter can still be fun to play in the snow. I think this is a good book to not only learn about what happens in each season, but also about a lot of different kinds of weather. The illustrations are a really fun addition to this book as well. Great book!

[Feralucce Savage · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the kiddo's go-to sleep books. The imagery is wiggy. A newborn calf's back acts as a stand-in for a field as seasons and weather pass over it. When the snow melts again, we gradually pull back to see that the calf has grown and spring is here again. The sentences are short and simple, but the words are carefully chosen so the book has an almost hypnotic lyricism. I usually end up lulled into a yawn or two while reading it!

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am humbled by a children's book. I pretty much added all of the sentences to my English-Spanish Anki deck. There were some simple words I didn't know off the top of my head like "la cosecha" and "el becerro" that you don't typically learn when you're first starting out. I can figure things out via the context of course.

The actual book is also very cute. It takes you through the seasons in a colorful way. The artwork is fun with bold colors.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

How anyone can give this sweet, beautiful little meditation of a book any fewer than five stars is beyond me. My daughter loved it from infancy to at least 7 or 8 years old, and I loved reading it to her. It has the perfect calming, centering mood for bedtime or anytime. I want to read it right now.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

The four seasons are centered on the growth of a calf. This BB is a very nice introduction to 4/S and the different things that happen during each season. Bold and bright images will catch the attention of a small child. The way the 4/S revolve around the calf will give small children an understanding of time.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

With an accompanying three or four word sentence for each two page spread we see the cycle of the seasons. For the very youngest and nicely done.
I read a 1989 copyright of this by Chronicle Books in a regular picture book format which I did not find in the list and didn't take the time to add.

[Beyondthebookends · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful tale that introduces the concept of seasons. Watch as the field changes through the year and the cow grows too! Beautiful illustrations make this a mommy favorite too.

more reviews at www.beyondthebookends.com

[Chance Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet, cutely detailed book about the passing of the seasons -- not just Spring! That said, it was a cruel book to read to myself when it's snowing now and will be five degrees in two days. And I was alarmed when the cow sprouted into a field of grass.

[Jessica Wilker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Informational Nonfiction
Reading Level: K-2

This book is a great read for young children. It gives different indications on how we can tell that spring is here. And it does this in a very calm way! I love how the illustrations are so colorful and full, I believe children would be very entertained with them. When I was listening to this book, I became a little confused when all of a sudden winter came because I thought it was supposed to be spring, but then I realized that this was supposed to show that spring is after winter. I just think the placing of winter was poor, but other than that, I enjoyed this book!

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Framed by a newborn calf and a yearling calf, children experience the cycle of the seasons through plants and outdoor weather conditions.

This picture book introduces young readers to the four seasons.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

So simple with such cute illustrations.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool little book with illustrations and concept reminiscent of a vintage Sesame Street animation. Sweet, quiet, and pretty.

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute pictures

[Ruth Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple illustrations and text show a new calf and spring change into summer, fall and winter, then into the next spring and our calf has grown.

[Mrs. Ruigrok · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book won an award for illustrations at the Bologna International Exhibition. Simple text and bold but simple illustrations go through the 4 seasons. Good for younger readers.

[Bethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly spring things, with a quick pass through the other seasons. Love the bright colors, clear graphics, nicely placed text. Spanish text flows nicely.

[Little Champs]

2903

[Taryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claire loves.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite taro gomi book. Really cool landscape book. Actually good through all seasons, not just spring

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable. I love how he takes something simple, like the seasons, but turns it into a visual journey. There's always something unexpected- I love it.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story showing the cyclic nature of the four seasons. It's a surprisingly comforting read with such sweet and creative illustrations.

[Andrés · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elegant in its simplicity. Was a surprise to experience the full seasonal cycle.

[Marni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this once. Sat for a moment. Read it again.

Simple but surprising and clever.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meditative | Quiet | Connected