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Sheila Anderson

Lerner Publications Company

Minneapolis

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Copyright

2010 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing
Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.
Lerner Publications Company
A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
241 First Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.
Website address: www.lernerbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Anderson, Sheila.
Are You Ready for Spring? / by Sheila M. Anderson.
p. cm. (Lightning bolt booksTM Our four seasons)
Includes index.
ISBN 9780761345848 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)
 1. SpringJuvenile literature. I. Title.
QB637.5.A53 2010
508.2dc22
2009016409
Manufactured in the United States of America
1 BP 12/15/09

eISBN 978-0-7613-5965-4

Contents
Sights and Sounds of Spring
Spring Weather

page

Springing to Life
The Spring World

page

11

page

Summer Is Coming

18

page

24

How Do Chicks Hatch?

page

28

Glossary Further Reading

page

30

page

31

Index
page

32

page

Sights and
Sounds of Spring
Sploosh! Sploosh! Do you
hear that? It is the sound of
rubber boots splashing in deep,
muddy puddles!

It is spring.
The snow has
melted, leaving
splooshy, squishy
mud in its place.

Two boys play

in mud puddles.

Listen! You can hear birds

wings flapping as they fly to
and fro. They work in pairs to
build their nests.

A bird lines
its nest with
soft fluff.

Spring
Weather
Heavy, gray clouds move in.
It looks as if it might rain.

Dont forget to bring your

umbrella!

Raindrops the size of pennies

begin to fall. Plop, plop, plop.

Rain taps against

the windows in a
springtime shower.

Rain makes a patter, patter,

patter sound on rooftops,
sidewalks, and umbrellas.

Thunder rumbles in the distance.

n
i
s
e
h
s
a
l
s
f
g
g
n
i
a
n
t
z
h
g
i
g
L
i
z
t
h
g
i
r
b
across the sky

10

Springing
to Life
Flowers and trees need spring
rains to grow. Tiny shoots emerge
from the dark, moist earth.
New leaves poke
out of a melting
snowbank.

11

Th

Kn

ot

12

n
o
t r e es
m
r
o
f
.
s
d
e delicate
bu
m
o
c
e
,

li l b
aves .
e
l
w
n
e
e
y
r
g
e ht
ig
r
b

Spring brings lots of activity.

Birds lay eggs. Soon we will
hear the peep, peep, peep of
newly hatched chicks.

Hungry baby birds call

out to their parents.

13

Adult birds hunt worms to feed

their hungry, fuzzy babies.

14

In springtime, mother deer

give birth to fawns. These

babies' coats are sprinkled

with white dots.

The white dots on a

fawns coat help it
hide in the grass.

15

Bears begin to emerge from their

cozy winter dens. They are

hungry after long months

of hibernation.

16

A gri ly bear
comes out of its
den. The bear slept
in the den all winter.

Ever yone feels energized by

the change in the weather.
17

The Spring
World

As the weather gets warmer,

families play together outdoors.

18

This family is
taking a hike.

gh
u
o
r
th

h
s
o
w
h
o
s
e
t
i
k
l
u
f
r
o
Col
g
n
o
l
k
e
s
i
d
a
h
w
ky ,
s
the
.
s
e
z
e
e
r
b
k
s
i
r
b
on

19

People dig in the earth to

plant seeds in flower beds
and gardens. Soon plants

will grow from the seeds.

20

Flowers begin to bloom,

coloring the world with bright
pinks, yellows, and reds.

Flowers poke
through last years
dead leaves.

21

Insects flit here and there.

Bees buzz from flower to
flower.

22

An

to s h ed
n
i
g
e
b
s
l
a
o
t
s.
c
a
r
e
t
m wi n
r
i
This bison is shedding
e
h
its heavy winter coat.

23

Summer Is
Coming
The temperature gets warmer
and warmer. It is time to pack
away our bulky winter clothes!

24

Days get longer and longer.

Long days
mean more
time to play!

25

Puddles and mud begin to dry

up. Days are bright and warm.

26

Summer is on its way.

What will you do in

the summer?

27

How Do
Chicks Hatch?
Many baby animals are born in the
spring. One of them is the baby chicken,
or chick.
Mother chickens lay eggs when they are
ready to have chicks. One tiny chick is
inside each egg. The mother chicken sits
on the eggs after she lays them. Soon
the chicks are ready to hatch.
A chick picks at its eggshell when its
ready to hatch. This is called pipping .
A chick has a tiny horn on the top
of its beak. The horn is called an egg
tooth. The chick uses its egg tooth to
break out of its egg.

28

Its a lot of work for a chick to break out

of its egg! The chick is wet and tired
when it first breaks free. It may lie still
and rest for a few hours. Soon its downy
feathers have dried. The chick is ready
to explore its surroundings.
A chicks egg tooth falls off within a day
after the chick hatches. The chick starts
growing feathers just a few weeks later.
Shell look more like a chicken than a
chick in no time!

A chick watches
another chick hatch.

29

Glossary
breeze: a mild wind
bud: a leaf or flower that has not yet opened
emerge: to come out
energize: to become active and full of energy
fawn: a baby deer
hatch: to break out from inside an egg
hibernation: the practice of spending winter in a
sleeplike state

moist: wet
shed: to lose fur

30

Further Reading
Baxter, Nicola. Spring. Mankato,
MN: Sea-to-Sea Publications, 2009.
Enchanted Learning: Earths Seasons
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/
subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/
seasons.shtml
Glaser, Linda. Its Spring! Minneapolis: Millbrook
Press, 2002.
Pfeffer, Wendy. A New Beginning: Celebrating
the Spring Equinox. New York: Dutton Children's
Books, 2008.
Ray, Mary Lyn. Mud. San Diego: Harcourt, 2001.
Schnur, Steven. Spring Thaw. New York: Viking,
2000.
Watch a Chick Hatch
http://www.msichicago.org/online-science/videos/
video-detail/activities/the-hatchery

31

Index
activities, 1820
animals, 6, 1316, 23,
2829

lightning, 10

buds, 12

nests, 6

clouds, 7

puddles, 4, 26

flowers, 11, 21

rain, 79

gardens, 20

temperature, 24
thunder, 10

mud, 45, 26

insects, 22
umbrellas, 7, 9

Photo Acknowledgments
The images in this book are used with the permission of: Gerry Lemmo, pp. 1, 6, 10, 11, 15,
21, 27; Almir1968/Dreamstime.com, p. 2; Mike Ford/SuperStock, p. 4; age fotostock/SuperStock, pp. 5, 9, 20, 23, 29; Steve Satushek/Photographers Choice/Getty Images, p. 7;
Stockbyte/Getty Images, p. 8; Photononstop/SuperStock, pp. 12, 13; Flirt/SuperStock,
p. 14; Shane Moore/Animals Animals, p. 16; Westend61/SuperStock, p. 17; Kwame
Zikomo/SuperStock, p. 18; Pacific Stock/SuperStock, p. 19; Karlene Schwartz, p. 22;
Hemis.fr/SuperStock, p. 24; Ed Simpson/Photographers Choice/Getty Images, p. 25;
Prisma/SuperStock, p. 26; Le Do/Dreamstime.com, p. 30; Erkki Makkonen/Dreamstime.
com, p. 31 (both).
Front cover: Darrell Gulin/Photographers Choice/Getty Images (top); Chris Stein/Stone/
Getty Images (bottom)

32

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The days are getting warmer. And

theyre getting longer. Baby birds are
hatching. The grass is turning green.
Do you know what season is here? Its
spring! What else happens in spring?
Read this book to find out!

TM

Learn all about the different seasons in the Our Four Seasons
seriespart of the Lightning Bolt
BooksTM collection. With high-energy
designs, exciting photos, and fun
text, Lightning Bolt BooksTM bring
nonfiction topics to life!

Our Four Seasons

Are
Are
Are
Are

You
You
You
You

Ready
Ready
Ready
Ready

for
for
for
for

Fall?
Spring?
Summer?
Winter?