Kazue Mizumura (1920–1996)

Why isn't this gem more widely known? Sure it's old, but surely somebody loved it when they were a child. It's a classic. Different winds through the seasons each get their own unique verse, most of which look like Haiku. Simple but evocative & graceful illustrations. Accessible to pre-school children, sophisticated enough for their parents. Small format friendly to small hands.

Highly recommended; maybe you'll be as lucky as I and find a copy that has not yet been discarded from one of the show more libraries in your system. show less

Flower Moon Snow is an elegantly written book of haiku. The style of this poetry is much more difficult, than some would think, to master, especially in English. That is why I appreciated its simple beauty.
Being a nature lover, I also enjoyed how the author emphasized nature's beauty through her poetry. The flowers brought Spring while the snowflakes brought the winter. Through the short verses, you could clearly see the seasons change. I could picture the flowers blossoming, trees swaying show more in the wind, birds flying, moon reflecting off the water, and footprints in the snow without looking at the illustrations. The verses were simple, yet had so much to offer. It's amazing how much the author was able to capture in a few short verses. show less

Read at openlibrary.org.
Nice introduction points out, among other things, that for the sake of brevity, "snow" *means* "winter," and therefore one is not to use both words in the same poem. And then the first poem uses both words "tulips" and "spring," and many more poems do the same. Oh well, at least they're accessible, straightforward little verses that even ppl who don't like poetry will probably enjoy... and this can also be used as a mentor text.

Art reminds me just a bit of that of show more [a:Evaline Ness|84907|Evaline Ness|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1373484566p2/84907.jpg]. limited palette, layered woodcut impressions, I dunno, I'm not an artist but I see something there. I think that I liked the illustrations better than the poems, even though the colors are those normally thought of as gloomy. show less

If I Were a Mother is the story of the ideals a little girl comes up with about what she would be like if she had children of her own. She uses animals and their parenting habits to reference to and finally uses her own mother. Kazue MIzumura's story would be a great read around mother's day for young children.