Caroline Pignat's first picture book is an intriguing blend of carefully composed verbal images, knit together with extraordinary visuals by the award-winning François Thisdale. The poem is about the yearly cycle in the life of trees. But it's also an intriguing poetic concoction. The initial letters of each line in each stanza spell out a word that pertains to the theme.

For example, in the section on spring, the vertical letters spell out: SEED, GERMINATE, SHOOT, ROOTS, LEAVES, FLOWERS. The young reader will make that discovery as they read the text and look at the detailed illustrations that show a rural landscape with trees, a farmer, barns, animals, and the changing of the seasons.

Caroline Pignat graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Education and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Religious Studies. After working with children and youth for over fifteen years in roles such as teacher, seminar facilitator, mentor and coach, she began her writing career. Her fiction, non-fiction and poetry for children regularly appear in Highlights for Children, Guideposts for Kids, Living Faith for Kids, and Clubhouse Magazine.

Caroline Pignat's profile page

L’œuvre de François Thisdale mélange les techniques traditionnelles et l’imagerie numérique. Il est l’illustrateur de The Stamp Collector, qui a été sur la liste d’honneur IBBY, That Squeak, un livre qui s’est mérité une mention d’honneur pour le prix IBBY Canada Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver et Missing Nimama, lauréat du prix TD de littérature pour l’enfance et la jeunesse. François vit à Montréal, au Québec.

François Thisdale's work blends traditional drawing and painting with digital imagery. He is the illustrator of The Stamp Collector, which is on IBBY Honor List, That Squeak, an honour book for the IBBY Canada Elizabeth Mrazik- Cleaver Picture Book Award, and Missing Nimama, winner of the TD Canadian Children’s Book Award. François lives in Montreal, Quebec.

François Thisdale's profile page

• Winner, Moonbeam Children's Book Award - Children's Poetry Category