“Spring is … the last time we hear ‘Snow day!’ on the news … the last time we bundle into snowsuits … And it’s also the first time we see new grass … the first time we play catch, and the first time we wash the car.” This imaginative approach to describing the four seasons (in some regions) captures the overlapping traits that are inevitable between one season and the next. Each season here is characterized by a series of four “last time” followed by four “first time” observations. Summer is being barefoot in the grass and “June bugs hitting the screen” for the first time, but before that it’s the “last time we wear flannel pajamas.” Fall is “the last time mom mows the lawn” and the first time woolly bear caterpillars appear. Winter is “the last time we visit the playground” and “the first time the car gets stuck.” The patterned text features child-centered observations inviting reflection and offering great conversation starters. Colorful, cozy collage illustrations follow the same white family over the course of a year.  ©2022 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

(Ages 5-8)