Kid’s Corner: Poems for Every Season by Bette Westera

#PoemsforEverySeason #NetGalley

To start: This book offers a visual delight. The illustrations (woodcuts) are just gorgeous throughout. I will return to this book often just to admire them.

The concept is rather brilliant too. This collection evokes the season and, at the same time, introduces kids to many different ways of composing poems, everything from the sonnet to a haiku and so much in between, including forms of poetry that were new to me. Helpfully, readers can find the poem’s style on the bottom of the pages. In addition, each style is described at the end of the book.

This title is listed as one for children but I think that there is much for adults to enjoy here as well.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 17 February 2025

About the book:

from the publisher

Description

“A remarkable collaboration.” —Kirkus Reviews (STARRED REVIEW)

Poetry and the beauty of nature combine for this breathtaking celebration of the year.

In this stunning combination of wordcraft and woodcuts, readers meet the changing seasons with thirteen poems, all in different poetic structures, from award-winning Dutch author Bette Westera. Each season opens with a haiku, following with the season’s months and their poems. Readers will dance into March with a rondel for a newborn lamb, wave in the August wind with a five-line tanka for a summer sunflower, snuggle in for December with a limerick for all those who stayed home instead of going south…

Exquisite woodcut art from Henriette Boerendans, an artist making her US and UK debut, showcases the wonder of the natural world. Back matter offers further details about the poems’ structures—offering the perfect opportunity for young writers to write their own sonnet for February or quatrain for September. Translated from the Dutch by David Colmer.

Poetic types spotlighted:

Haiku

Rondel

Acrostic

Double dactyl

Pantoum

Elevenie

Tanka

Quatrain

Diamante

Rondelet

Limerick

Stacking Poem

Sonnet

Creating the book:

from Amazon

Bette Westera has written over fifty books for children, including Fast Cheetah, Slow Tortoise and the Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book Later, When I’m Big (both Eerdmans). She has also translated books by Dr. Seuss, Astrid Lindgren, and Julia Donaldson into the Dutch language. Bette lives in the Netherlands, where her books have received two Golden Pencil awards and six Silver Pencil honors. Visit her website at bettewestera.nl.

Henriette Boerendansis an Amsterdam-based printmaker and illustrator. Poems for All Seasons is her English-language debut. While walking in nature together one day, Bette and Henriette brainstormed new projects and came up with the idea for this book. Follow Henriette on Instagram @henriette.boerendans and visit her website at boerendans.com. 

David Colmer is an Australian writer and translator of Dutch and Flemish literature. He has translated over eighty books throughout his career, including I’ll Root for You, A Pond Full of Ink, and Fast Cheetah, Slow Tortoise (all Eerdmans). His work has been honored with many awards, including the PEN Translation Prize and the Dutch Foundation for Literature’s James Brockway Prize, which recognizes a translator’s body of Dutch-language poetry. David lives in Amsterdam.

From the Publisher:

“Boerendans’…work throughout is masterful. The book’s design is innovative, while the verse is thoughtful and immersive….A remarkable collaboration.”
―Kirkus Reviews (STARRED REVIEW)