Book Review: Poems for Every Season — A Year of Poetry Meant to Be Lived With
Poems for Every Season is one of those books that makes you want to slow down a little.
The poems follow the rhythm of the year, moving from season to season through a wonderful variety of poetic forms, while Henriette Boerendans' illustrations give you just as much reason to linger on the pages as the words do.
Originally published in the Netherlands, the book feels a little different from many children's poetry collections I've come across. It's quiet without being dull, thoughtful without feeling serious, and very comfortable letting children simply notice things—the changing light, a bird, an apple, a fox, the way a landscape looks different from one season to the next.
I really liked that.
There's plenty here to explore more deeply, especially for homeschoolers and teachers, but the book never feels as though it is trying to turn poetry into a lesson. Children get to hear it, enjoy it, laugh at it, and notice its patterns first. The explanations can come later.
Reading Aloud Through the Seasons
The poems are arranged by season, which makes this a book I imagine leaving on a shelf and pulling down throughout the year. You might read one poem in March because suddenly it feels exactly right for what's happening outside. Another might find its moment in October. Then you could come back the following year and notice something entirely different.
I think younger children will first be drawn to the sound of the poems—the rhythm, repetition, funny words, and strong images. As children get older, they begin noticing more. Why does this poem sound the way it does? I see a pattern. Why did the poet choose those words — Is there a reason?
I love books that can grow with children in that way. You don't necessarily outgrow them. You just begin to hear more—wonder more.
Artwork That Makes You Stop and Look
The illustrations by Henriette Boerendans are a huge part of what I enjoyed about this book. They are created in a woodcut printmaking tradition, with layered color and all of the lovely texture and slight irregularity that comes with that style. They feel grounded and natural and somehow very well suited to the changing year.
I especially loved the seasonal haiku that open each section. The same landscape appears again and again as the year changes. Children can notice what's happened to the trees, the light, the plants, the animals, and the colors without anyone having to point it all out for them.
There is something wonderful about that kind of quiet observation.
The other illustrations work in much the same way. They give children clues and places to look, but they don't explain everything. There's still room for children to wonder and come to their own conclusions.
And It Isn't All Serious Poetry
One thing that I don't want to lose in talking about all the thoughtful things this book does is that many of the poems are simply fun.
There's humor, repetition, wordplay, and rhythm. There are little surprises tucked into the poems and pictures—a pecked apple, a watchful fox, a flock of geese. Some poems almost beg to be read aloud more than once just because they are satisfying to say.
That's important to me in a children's poetry collection. Poetry shouldn't always arrive carrying the feeling that we're about to analyze it. Sometimes children should get to enjoy the way words sound in their mouths.
And there's plenty of that here.
So Much to Work With for Homeschool or Classroom Use
This is where my teacher brain really kicked in.
Poems for Every Season includes examples of:
- Haiku
- Sonnet
- Acrostic
- Rondel
- Limerick
- Tanka
- Pantoum
- Diamante
- Double dactyl
Children meet the poems as poems first. They hear them. They notice the pictures they create in their minds. They laugh at some of them. They begin recognizing that one sounds very different from another.
Only later in the book are the different verse forms explained. I really appreciate that order.
In a classroom, I would have kept this book somewhere visible all year. I can imagine reading from it as the seasons changed, pulling it out when we were exploring a particular poetic form, and leaving it available for students to browse when they needed ideas.
It doesn't have to become a curriculum to be useful. That's one of the things I like about it.
A Book to Come Back To
Try not to read Poems for Every Season from beginning to end. Read a few poems. Put it away. Bring it back when the weather changes. Find one that fits something you've just noticed outside. Look at the illustrations again. Try writing one of the poetic forms yourself. Then come back next year.
For younger children, let it simply be a beautiful book of poems to hear together. Let older children begin playing with form, structure, and language. Adults may even find themselves loving this book too and noticing things they missed the first read or two.
That's why I like Poems for Every Season. It leaves room for that kind of book relationship.
Let it sit on a bookshelf, a homeschool shelf, or in a classroom and be useful without constantly announcing that it's educational. This is one book worthy of every bookshelf.
Book Details
- Title: Poems for Every Season: A Year of Haiku, Sonnets, and More
- Author: Bette Westera
- Illustrator: Henriette Boerendans
- Translator: David Colmer
- Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
- Publication Date: February 17, 2026
- Format: Hardcover, 56 pages
- Publisher’s Recommended Ages: 5–9
- Where We Think It Shines for Enjoyment: Grades 2+
- Where We Think It Shines for Poetry Study & Instruction: Grades 4–7
Many thanks to Eerdmans Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for providing a digital advance review copy. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
