cover image Growing Seasons

Growing Seasons

Elsie Lee Splear, Ken Stark, Carolyn Pratt. Putnam Publishing Group, $16.99 (40pp) ISBN 978-0-399-23460-6

Splear (1906-1996) used a series of notebooks to record her family's life on the small Illinois farms where she and her three sisters grew up. There is no story line, just a series of windows onto a receding past: text on the first spread, for example, is titled ""Kitchen Stove""; other segments are ""Mama in the Garden,"" ""Butchering"" and ""Winter Chores."" Splear provides a very clear picture of the work involved in running a farm and the numerous skills required to keep the family clothed and fed. The individuals themselves are less distinct, although every now and then a detail gives some insight into a personality (Pa spends years inventing a power tool; Pa always greets the girls with a smile, even when he's in the middle of a grueling job). First-time illustrator Stark's casein paintings are also better at conveying a general scene than specific characters; his impressionistic style tends to obscure facial expressions and he also prefers to show people in groups, often with their faces turned away from the viewer. Whether he is showing the four girls wading in a creek or men on threshing day, he bathes his nostalgic compositions in a glow of contentment, manifesting an optimistic faith in a well-done day's labor. Ages 5-up. (June)