cover image A Year in Nature: A Carousel Book of the Seasons

A Year in Nature: A Carousel Book of the Seasons

Hazel Maskell, illus. by Eleanor Taylor. Laurence King, $21.99 (8p) ISBN 978-1-78627-306-2

This striking pop-up book depicts a woodland grove in all its splendor throughout the seasons. By standing the book upright and placing the covers back-to-back, readers can view the four scenes three dimensionally, in carousel format. A fox family appears in each spread. In spring, the cubs begin their lives in a den with their mother; by winter, the full-grown foxes are ready to find mates of their own. Maskell offers brief, caption-like descriptions detailing animal behaviors and attributes of each season. Seek-and-find prompts challenge readers to peer more closely: in the fall, “squirrels gather nuts, and bury them to eat in the cold winter months. How many squirrels can you spot?” This dynamic celebration of seasons offers much to discover and treasure. Ages 6–9. (Sept.)