And Then It's Spring

A little boy plants some seeds in the fall; as the seasons come and go, he gets a little discouraged that they are not growing until one day he looks out and everything is green and growing. An enjoyable short and sweet read!

I liked that this book kept a common theme of "then you have brown, brown all around". It felt like there was a good rhythm to the book because of that. I also liked the soft and calm feeling of the illustrations and that anything that was white wasn't touched with the medium used to create the illustrations. It was cute to see what was going on in the images. Such as the dog digging up his dog bone and there being a "seed" sign for the actual bone that was buried. This book is about a boy and his dog who plant a seed in the grown. But each day they go out nothing has sprout and the world around them is just brown. It goes through the seasons and this little boy thinking that the animals (such as bears) have stomped on the seeds because they obviously can't read signs. One day he goes out and everything is green instead of brown, meaning spring has come.

"First you have brown, all around you have brown, then there are seeds", a boy and his dog are exceptionally tired of all the brown, so they do a little planting and then spend weeks worrying about their planting and whether the birds are eating all the seeds or the bears are stomping on the seeds. Simply delightful story about hoping and waiting for spring to arrive.

This simple book goes through the different seasons. A little boy patiently waits as he waits for his plants to grow. He planted his items in the fall but they do not bloom until spring comes. He has patience and hope. The illustrations look to be drawn with colored pencils and that keeps the simpleness of the stories. Using this book in the classroom to teach patience, determination, and about the seasons would be great. In a lot of classroom students plant a plant for science so instead of just making one in a cup see if it would be acceptable to plant outside of the building.

I love the text of this book. The title phrase never actually appears in the book, but it's the unspoken final sentence of a lovely story about the coming of spring.

This is a story about a young boy and his dog who are tired of seeing all of the brown earth after a long winter. So they decide to plant something to make the earth a different color. It is a slow start, but eventually they accomplish their goal. A very cute little book with excellent illustrations.

Yay for quiet books. Slow down and smell the mud, listen for the green, imagine the birds and bears eating the seeds.

I loved this book for so many reasons! The main reason is that it showed Spring in a new light than it is usually shown in classic picture books. I think that the main idea in this story is to illustrate exactly how Spring arrives and the planning and preparation that goes into the creation of the beautiful season. The first example I found to support the main idea is that the boy is planting his seeds in his ground and waiting. While he is waiting he is wondering exactly why it is taking so long for the seeds to grow into plants. He makes up scenarios in his head like that the birds are digging up the seeds and eating them or that the bears are stomping around on the seeds. Either way, the boy is impatient and wants to see his plants now! Another example that supports the main idea is how the pictures portray the mood of each page. When the boy is worrying about the little seeds in the ground, the sky is gray and the ground is brown. The boy looks solemnly into the distance and the dog is laying with his head on the ground looking upset as well. But when the boy finally sees that Spring has arrived, the sky is blue, the dog looks cheerful, the ground is green and the boy is having fun on the tire swing. Just the colors of the pictures can add a whole new story. The pictures help to show exactly how it felt to be there and just how marvelous it was to finally see those seeds grow!

Perfect read for mud season, the season of brown, brown, brown. Patience is needed in large doses. This gently told and illustrated delight does just that. It teaches patience, persistence, and hope. Even in the midst of brown and mud, we must plant that seed. And wait, wait, wait. Because indeed after "that sunny day that happens right after that rainy day" , you'll walk outside and now you'll have green.

A very earthy, sober and understated book. The pictures are beautiful and it's a good lesson about patience. My son was very interested in the story. (We're growing tomatoes in front of our house, and he's very involved this year. But it takes a long time!) I really liked the pictures of what was taking place in the soil (under the surface), they were so enlightening and we had a good discussion about how the plants take roots and all the little critters digging holes and tunnels into the earth.

The illustrations really make this book. The story itself is simple, but the illustrator does a wonderful job portraying characters that are desperately waiting for spring. My favorite page is the one that shows the boy with his magnifying class starting at the brown dirt hoping to see the smallest glimpse of green to tell him spring is on it's way. With the boy are the turtle, rabbit and dog all with excellent facial expressions. I just can't say enough about how well the illustrator captures the expressions of disappointment on the boys face as well as his animal friends' faces. You really feel sorry for them and begin to wonder yourself if spring will come. Very darling book!

This is a story of a boy and his dog who plant seeds in hopes of changing the brown ground to a green color. He sits and waits for many days hoping it would change, finally his garden was full of lots of greens. I would use this book in a young classroom since it is a pretty simple book.

This book is a short picture book about a little boy. During a very brown winter he decides to plant a garden. He digs, plants the seeds, and waits for the plants to grow. The weather changes, but still he sees no sign of growth. Until, one day, he comes outside to see that spring has come and the brown has turned to a green oasis.

This beautifully illustrated and colorful story allows us to look through the eyes of a boy and his pup and witness the colorful transition from winter to spring! I love this for an alternative to the traditional teaching of seasons!

Wonderful illustrations with charming details and a muted color palette. Simple story with repetitive language and circular sentences.

Quiet. Contemplative. Poetic. All could be used to describe this lovely picture book with illustrations by Erin E. Stead. Spring is actually never mentioned explicitly in the text; instead the focus is on describing the details, particularly the colors that lead from winter to spring. A boy, a dog, a rabbit, a turtle and some birds are all players in Stead's illustrations that chronicle the planting and early sprouting of a garden. Careful observers will enjoy looking to see what each one is doing on all of the spreads. Both Stead and Fogliano add just the right amount of whimsy to balance the predominantly thoughtful tone. This would be a great title for young families that are planning a garden and need to reinforce the importance of patience in growing things or just for anyone who likes to watch and explore the outside world.

A beautiful picture book about a boy that plants seeds and wait until next Spring to see the results of his hard work. I would teach about seeds, gardening, having patience, and waiting for the results of your hard work.Reading Journal: counts as 1 Picture Book

The story here is sweet: about waiting patiently to reap the fruits of the seeds we sow. But, my favorite part of this book were the illustrations by Erin Stead. In particular, the main character's animal friends are characters worthy of their own place in this story.

I just want to sit and read this until Spring really comes!

I had such high hopes for this book, but it was sorely disappointing. I thought the illustrations were wonderful, but the text fell sadly short. The use of one run-on sentence for the entire book was shameful, and on the page asking "and is that a little green?" it actually says (MISSPELLED) "an is that a little green?" Just bad editing and proofing. Ick.

This book was getting rave reviews and big hype because it is illustrated by Caldecott Medal winner Erin E. Stead. It was okay. Part of it is that I expected more and I was underwhelmed. It was kind of ant-climatic, when the day everything is finally sprouting and green definitely has more energy - a vibrance that is not conveyed through the text or the illustration. It started out a little poetic ("First you have brown, all around you have brown"), but then it isn't so poetic. I don't know why the bears were added; it detracts from the main line of the story, although kids may find it amusing. The book can be used in language arts: the anticipated change from brown to green in the yard (one of my favorite moments), is one example of color change in nature. Name and describe some others (dusk, dawn, leaves, the change from green to brown).

I think biggest strength this book has is it’s art work. The pictures are done really well and you can tell exactly what is happening just by looking at the pictures. It's very earthy and it really sets the tone of what the whole book is about. The way the book is set up is about seeing brown and it changes as the book goes but it continues to have the same theme and rhythm. Over all I liked this book and I think it would be fun for children to read.