A poem that first appeared in a 1959 collection by Myra Cohn Livingston makes for a spirited trip across the year as a stand-alone picture book. Livingston marks each month by a distinctive action or activity. January “shivers,” March “blows off the winter ice.” June is “deep blue swimming.” December brings snow and sleds and Santa. Livingston’s brief poem is in the first-person, and artist Will Hillenbrand depicts the speaker as a lively, dark-haired, white-skinned girl in his vibrant mixed-media illustrations. (Ages 4–7)

And so begins a new year full of sights, sounds, and feelings. From January through December, the months of the year are celebrated in beloved children's poet Myra Cohn Livingston's pleasing verse and Will Hillenbrand's lively art.