If the contents of our daily mail delivery is any indication of what season is upon us then it must be SPRING! Seed catalogs, gardening supply companies and nurseries bombard us with their promise of lush gardens and overflowing baskets of vegetables and flowers.

     Winter erases the memory of my previous summer's failures. I forget that the melons I planted from seed last year produced sad results, eaten by mysterious insects and engulfed by powdery mildew - yet I can read the seed description for another type of melon and become instantly enchanted..."finely netted rind, perfumed and crystalline flesh"...it reads to me like a romance novel. In my imagination the tomatoes tower over the beans, the beets stand tall with their slightly-curled red stemmed leaves pert (just hinting that someday soon they could be roasted and dressed to be eaten over a bed of arugula) and the cucumbers, oh lord, the cucumbers!

     Spring is a tonic. If it could be bottled it would surely be illegal. It renews vigor and shakes us out of the winter doldrums. Long-awaited birds appear at the feeder again, some staying around for a while and others just passing through. It feels good to linger on the front porch and appreciate the buds on trees, count the number of tulips just poking through the soil and observe the clouds. If anything spring gives us the pleasure of inspecting nature and hoping for another season of greenery and bounty.

     There are innumerable reasons to go outside and become aware of spring's arrival. It is in every corner, no matter where you live, just hoping to get a foothold and pop through.

Happy Spring!

Amy E. Vandament

Manager

Have you heard about our  

Story Extension Cards?

We are getting a lot of positive feedback from our newest offering, Fruit from the Vine Story Extension Cards. It is an exciting sole source item only available through The Book Vine!  Our website's first package, Fruit from the Vine Story Extension Card Package, contains all 41 books. Of course, you can always purchase titles individually.

Our Fruit from the Vine extension ideas provide you with easy ways to integrate good books into your classroom. (Click the link in this paragraph to view a sample of the card.)

Denise Fleming is a multidimensional one-woman show of creativity. Her illustrations are tender yet bold; her use of texture and color gives each pulp painting life and movement. Denise's style mixes humor and realism to depict animals, children and inanimate objects in a way that makes them irresistible. Her appreciation of nature has a firm foothold in all of her work.

We have been lucky to get to know Denise and to witness her talent and spunk.