If you are a nature lover, as well as a poetry lover, then today’s picture book is for you!

Bette Westera has visited my blog before. She is the author of the Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book Later, When I’m Big (Eerdmans) and over fifty other books for children. 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. You can learn more about her at her website.

POEMS FOR EVERY SEASON: A YEAR OF HAIKU, SONNETS, AND MORE is a poetry picture book originally published in the Netherlands all about the changing seasons and it is chock-a-block full of appreciation for nature. It divides the book up into seasonal sections and starts with Spring. BUT as each section also has a poem for every month, that means the book starts in March (the first month of spring in most of the world) and ends in February (the Winter season). If that wasn’t fascinating enough, the illustrations by Henriette Boerendans are absolutely gorgeous. Each page sports a woodcut that could easily hang in a gallery! It should be no surprise that the author and illustrator are friends, but it might be a surprise to hear that they brainstormed this book that could equally highlight both of their skills and capture both of their love of nature.

Welcome back Bette!

Me: I understand that you know the illustrator of this book and you both came up with the idea together. How did that happen? What gave you both the idea for this book?

Bette: Years ago, Henriette Boerendans crossed my path. I was immediately struck by her work. What a tremendous combination of creativity and craftsmanship! The first book we did together was Ape Bear Zebra, which was soon nominated for a prize. It was a collaboration that begged to be extended and when I got the idea of a book about trees and all the things that can be made from wood, I immediately thought of Henriette and her woodcuts. She was the perfect person to illustrate a book about wood.

Walking in nature together, we brainstormed about new projects. That was how we came up with the idea of a book about the seasons.

Me: I love that you focused your timeline on seasons and not calendar months for where to start and stop the book. For instance, you started in March with Spring and ended in February with Winter. How did you decide on that organization for the poems and the book?

Bette: I don’t remember exactly. But in spring, everything in nature comes back to life, everything starts over again. I suspect we both felt the book should begin with spring.

Me: There is quite a variety of poetry forms used here. How did you decide which forms to use for which months or which forms to include in the book for that matter? Were there poetry forms you weeded out?

Bette: After Henriette sent me her woodcut of a newborn lamb, the poem emerged from two sentences that I found beautiful together: “On hoppity legs, it frolics in the field; a ball of off-white wool just born last night.” They called for a rondel, a poem in which some of the lines are repeated several times.

In this book, content and form are inseparable. Of course, my choice of poetic form is influenced by what the poem is about. For the poem about the longest day of the year, the pantoum, with its interlocking stanzas, was the perfect choice, but a poem about a single apple in September called for a simpler form. At the same time, the chosen form also dictates much of the content.

Me: The translation of poetry is always a challenge. It can change rhyme, scansion, etc. I understand that some of your poems may have had to change forms because of the necessity of the English language (or the knowledge of English readers). Was that a hard change to accept? Did these changes make the book better (in your opinion)?

Bette: David Colmer worked so carefully that it wasn’t difficult for me to accept that the form was sometimes different. We also discussed his choices, which was very helpful.

I translate a lot of rhyming picture books myself. This means I know very well that you must take a lot of liberties when translating poetry. You translate in spirit, not in letter, and David did that very well.

Me: I love that you included the poetry form Elevenie (which originated in the Netherlands). I’ve never heard of it before. I saw in your back matter note about it, that it’s very popular in schools. Is that why you included it? Did it increase the marketing potential of the book in the Netherlands for inclusion in schools?

Bette: I hadn’t anticipated adding an informational section at the back of the book. Halfway through the writing process, it occurred to me that it would be a nice idea to include an appendix in which I explained the different poetic forms.

This section made the book extra interesting for poetry lessons at schools. The Elf is indeed a very popular form of poetry, widely used in schools, and that made it nice that I had also chosen that form, in addition to more complicated forms.

Me: The illustrations by Henriette Boerendans are perfect. These wood cuts are gorgeous!  Were there any illustration surprises for you? Any favorites?

Bette: Henriette always surprises me with her work. My favorites are the hedgehog in autumn, the lamb in spring, and the geese in winter. 

Me: What is your favorite season and why? Did you include your why in the book?

Bette: I don’t have a favorite season. I enjoy the variety. I would find it very difficult to live in a country without seasons. It would seem very boring if it were always the same temperature, cold temperature, dry temperature, or wet temperature. I enjoy trees budding in spring just as much as falling autumn leaves and emerging mushrooms. I can handle cold and rain well. I only find extreme heat unpleasant.

I completely agree! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today Bette.

But wait, dear readers, there’s more! Not only does the book publish today, but we are giving away ONE copy of it to a lucky winner (US and Canadian entries only). You can enter the SweepWidget here. Good luck!