Pond Seasons

Barbara Robertson is the author of Wilfrid Laurier: The Great
Conciliator and the co-author of The Well-Filled Cupboard.

Pond Seasons takes the reader from spring, with mallard ducks hatching
and raising their young, through to winter, when turtles hibernate in
the mud. Along the way it touches on butterflies, great blue herons,
bats, dragonflies, fish, raccoons, Canada geese, squirrels, and beaver.
The illustrations are beautiful, the verse is sensitive and lyrical, and
the scene is altogether idyllic. It’s true that the great blue heron
“seizes what he needs” (presumably the “tadpoles, frogs and
fish” referred to earlier in the verse), but there is very little
violence evident in this particular pond, little sense of the hazards of
life.

This serenity should appeal to adults, especially urban adults who like
to think that rural settings are peaceful. It is less certain that
children aged 2 to 6, for whom the book is designed, will be similarly
responsive. Older children are more likely to appreciate the undeniable
charm of the verse, exemplified by Alderson’s description of the baby
bat “holding tight” to its mother, “along for the swoop, the dip,
/ the upside-downside glide, / along for the ride.” Recommended with
reservations.