And Then It's Spring [Hardcover]

Following a snow-filled winter, a young boy and his dog decide that they've had enough of all that brown and resolve to plant a garden. They dig, they plant, they play, they wait . . . and wait . . . until at last, the brown becomes a more hopeful shade of brown, a sign that spring may finally be on its way.

Julie Fogliano's tender story of anticipation is brought to life by the distinctive illustrations Erin E. Stead, recipient of the 2011 Caldecott Medal.

This title has Common Core connections.

And Then It's Springis one ofThe Washington Post's Best Kids Books of 2012.
One ofKirkus Reviews'Best Children's Books of 2012

Julie Fogliano has spent her entire life reading children's books. Now she stays up way too late writing her own books while eating cereal. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and their two boys. They make her very tired, but give her lots of good ideas.And Then It's Springis her first book.

Erin E. Stead first met Julie Fogliano while working together in a New York City bookstore. Today she lives in a 100-year-old barn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with her husband, Philip, who is an author and illustrator, and with whom she co-createdA Sick Day For Amos McGee, winner of the 2011 Caldecott Medal, for Roaring Brook Press. Erin creates her illustrations using woodblock printing techniques and pencil.

Green is what the bespectacled boy in Julie Fogliano's 'And Then It's Spring' eagerly hopes to see as he waits for seeds he has planted to sprout from the brown earth. Did birds eat the seeds? Did bears trample them? In Erin E. Stead's finely drawn illustrations, we see the imagined bears lounging in the seedbeds with a sign that reads: 'Please do not stomp here--there are seeds and they are trying.' The Wall Street Journal

This seemingly real-time experience of getting to green is a droll, wistful ode to the stamina behind wanting, will, and perseverance.lS(