• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2017 February #2
  Sophie asks her parents when she'll know that spring is coming. As they advise, she listens for birds. At first, there's only snow and silence, but gradually, she hears more and more chirping birds. Next, she feels for the ground getting softer. Initially, it's hard and icy, but slowly, snow turns to slush, and her boots begins to sink in a bit. Finally, she watches for the snow to melt and sniffs for the scents of earth and rain. When raindrops fall, she catches them on her tongue: the taste of spring. The precisely worded text is carefully crafted to help children slow down the pace and tune in to the natural world with all their senses, not just their sight. Hill's evocative illustrations, done in gouache with "digital retouching," invite viewers to linger over each scene. Color is used sparingly until the last few double-page spreads, when spring arrives. A possible read-aloud choice for primary-grade units on the senses, this picture book will resonate with all those who find themselves yearning for spring. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.

Yael Werber is a Massachusetts native and a 2009 graduate of Boston University where she graduated with honors with a degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. A former preschool teacher, Yael currently resides in a cozy red farmhouse in Plainfield, Vermont.

Jen Hill is the illustrator of The Boy with Pink Hair by Perez Hilton, and the author and illustrator of Percy and Tumtum: A Tale of Two Dogs. Jen's work in children's interactive media spans almost two decades. Her children's television credits include Time Warp Trio, Home Movies, and Sesame Street. Jen also led a team of artists to create a symbol language and illustrated content for the Tango, a speech-generating device for nonverbal children. Jen is a graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she studied children's book illustration with David Macaulay. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.