Handsprings [Hardcover]

Douglas Florian (Author, Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-Florian continues to churn out clever poems accompanied by his spirited watercolor and colored-pencil artwork. Illustrations include a girl skateboarding on a green leaf, a boy doing handsprings, and a daisy with a smiling face poking around a brick wall. He employs lots of playful phrases: Spring is great/For growing grass./Spring has zing/And spring has sass and The March wind rattles/And skedaddles. There is one nimble concrete poem titled Rain Reign and another selection called Ten Things To Do When It Rains: -¦Surf the net./Build a jet./Or go outside and get wet. The format will be familiar to fans of Summersaults (2002), Autumnblings (2003), and Winter Eyes (1999, all HarperCollins), with plenty of white space framing muddy, childlike illustrations and simple, clear print. These sprightly odes shout out the poet's affection for the season and conclude his well-received quartet. Most libraries will want to purchase this entertaining suite.-Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 3. The last of Florian's seasonal series, which includes Winter Eyes (1999), summersaults (2002), and Autumnblings (2003), this collection of 48 short, rhyming poems celebrates a child's experience of spring in a winning combination of exuberance, delicacy, and messy fun. From flowers and showers to skateboard speeding and baseball striking, the small pictures, in watercolor and colored pencil, add to the physical sounds and action without overwhelming the words: "Picking berries is very fun / Very berry merry fun," reads the poem, which is accompanied by a picture showing a kid's hand smeared and blotchy with color. There is the delight of wallowing in oozing mud, and also "the feel of rain that drips / Down my nose and on my lips." Preschoolers will have fun chanting and acting out the rhyme and repetition; older kids will like all the puns and wordplay--from the book title to "Spring succeeds ex-seed-ing-ly." Yes it does. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (February 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060092807
• ISBN-13: 978-0060092801
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,284,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Douglas Florian is the creator of many acclaimed picture books including Dinothesaurus, which received starred reviews in four major publications, Comet, Stars, The Moon and Mars, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year and Horn Book Fanfare List selection; Bow Wow Meow Meow, winner of the Gryphon Award and a Parents Magazine Best Book of the Year; and Lizards, Frogs and Polliwogs, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book. He lives with his family in New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars charming, October 21, 2007

By 

David McCann - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Handsprings (Hardcover)

this is but one of Douglas Florian's many delightful works for young eyes and minds; i recommend without reserve.

4.0 out of 5 stars spring time, April 5, 2006

By 

Melissa Sack (georgia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Handsprings (Hardcover)

This is a neat collection of poems all about spring! A lot of springtime fun is included in the poems. From playing in the rain to warm weather activities it's all here in this one book! Celebrate spring with poetry!



What did you like or not like about the book?

I liked the play on words and all the puns in the poems.