By Brittany Luby
Illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley
Groundwood / House of Anansi, 2021
44 pages
978177306-326-3
Ages 3-6
A contemporary Anishinaabe grandmother answers her grandchild’s questions about the four seasons by sharing observations about the natural world in this striking picture book. “How do I know summer is here? … When blueberries drop readily, and the sand is hot enough to sting. When Insects billow black from the trees, and the sun slips into an orange dream.” The stunning digitally-created illustration shows the two at the water’s edge after berry-picking, with saturated sunset hues and bold black outlines. As the seasons pass, grandmother and grandchild’s activities include foraging for orange mushrooms in fall, feeding red-capped woodpeckers in winter, and hearing brown peepers sing in spring. Brittany Luby’s (Anishinaabe) exceptional text is perfectly complemented by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley’s (Ojibwe) gorgeous art in this bilingual (Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwe and English) story. ©2021 Cooperative Children’s Book Center