Spring is, without a doubt, one of my favorite times of year. My office overlooks the garden and I'm coaxed outside several times a day by the promise of growing things. Something of that burgeoning energy seeps into my bones and makes me want to be doing and writing. It's a good thing! And something I like to share with my students.

Here are some lovely and lively collections of Springtime poetry.

• Handsprings: poems and paintings, written and illustrated by Douglas Florian. This is the last of his four seasonal poetry books. You'll find a fun combination of rhyme for young children to pantomime plus puns and sophisticated wordplay for older students. From the title poem: "Spring is great/ for growing grass./ Spring has zing/ and spring has sass..." and so does this book.
• Oddhopper opera: a bug's garden of verses, written and illustrated by Kurt Cyrus. Delicate flowers and tasty veggies aren't the focus of this poetry collection. No, it's the weird and wonderful garden critters - from beetles to snakes - that scurry and slither through these pages in meticulous illustrations and poetic lines. This is an invitation to read a portion and encourage children to try and guess the subject: "Sliding softly, here and gone,/ A belly with a head stuck on."
• Toad by the Road: a year in the life of these amazing amphibians, written by Joanne Ryder and illustrated by Maggie Kneen. The title is perfectly accurate as to the subject, but doesn't convey the stunning combination of poetic skill and scientific curiosity that fills each page. Beautifully detailed artwork enhances the language that depicts this simple, but amazing animal's existence from season to season.

Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is being hosted by Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. Don't miss it.

Friday's Famous First: Can you identify the title and author of this first line?
In SPRING,/ Red sings/ from treetops:/ cheer-cheer-cheer,/ each note dropping/like a cherry/into my ear.