This book provides the reader with information regarding the spring equinox. It shows how different cultures use the spring equinox to celebrate different holidays. I liked this book for two reasons. First, the illustrations enhance the story; a visual is provided showing the rotation of the earth in addition to the explanation in the text. This helps accommodate for a reader who is a visual learner. Second, the text is well organized. The book first introduces the concept of the spring equinox. It then introduces a new culture, page by page, and what the spring equinox means to them. This leads up to today's families and how we use the spring equinox. The overall message is that there are similarities among everyone that go unnoticed. ( )

Wendy Pfeffer - who, with the publication of The Longest Day: Celebrating the Summer Solstice earlier this month, now has a book devoted to each of the four major dates in the solar year: the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, winter and summer solstices - explores the Spring Equinox in A New Beginning, highlighting some of the many cultural celebrations tied to this time of year.

The Chinese New Year festival, which welcomes the spring and marks the beginning of a new year, two months after the Winter Solstice; the Persian No Ruz (Nowruz), or New Year, which coincides with the equinox; Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors; and the Russian Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week - all make an appearance. So too do the holidays of Passover and Easter (as well as the pagan Eostre for which the latter was named), not to mention the astonishing visual feat associated with the Mayan pyramid El Castillo, at Chichen Itza, where, on the day of the Spring Equinox, the afternoon sun creates the appearance of a snake moving down the pyramid.

An informative overview of cultural practices associated with the Spring, A New Beginning also includes related crafts and recipes at the back. Young readers will undoubtedly have a lot of fun making their own Chinese New Year Lanterns and Spring Kites, growing their own sabzeh (a pot of wheat or barley, associated with Nowruz), or cooking their own Easter eggs or Charoset (a dish associated with Passover). The accompanying illustrations by Linda Bleck aren't really to my taste (a little too cute, somehow), but they are colorful, and accentuate the cheerfulness of the season being depicted. All in all, an engaging title for anyone looking to introduce young readers to the idea of the Spring Equinox, and its influence on human cultures. ( )

Informative, with an engaging (albeit rather text-heavy) narrative, Wendy Pfeffer's A New Beginning not only describes spring as a season (longer and warmer days, rebirth, the end of winter), the book also highlights some of the many cultural celebrations and festivals that welcome and honour springtime.

A New Beginning demonstrates that in many cultures, the arrival of spring is (or historically was) celebrated as the beginning of a new year (the Chinese New Year, the Persian celebration of No Ruz). Other celebrations and festivals, such as the Hindu festival of Holi, the Jewish holiday of Passover and the Christian celebration of Easter also celebrate new beginnings, rebirth, and the start of a new planting/growing season (the name Easter actually comes from the old Saxon goddess of springtime, whose name was Eostre). I don't want to give away too many spoilers (I want children to read this book and discover its treasure trove of information for and by themselves), but as a person who is woefully ignorant when it comes to mathematics and physics, I am in awe at the amazing knowledge of architecture, astronomy and mathematics that allowed the Mayans of Mexico to build structures that could so precisely predict the seasons.

There is likely a bit too much text, too much information contained in this book for sharing with very young children. In my opinion, the book is more suitable for slightly older children (ages six and up perhaps), simply because of the amount of information presented and the fact that some of the vocabulary is rather advanced. I could imagine A New Beginning being of use (and a likely hit with students) in a preschool or elementary classroom, maybe in conjunction with a unit on the seasons, or a unit highlighting multiculturalism and/or cultural celebrations and festivals. The craft and recipe suggestions at the back are an added bonus and could be used for a fun and engaging class project; of course, these suggestions would also be wonderful to try at home.

The illustrations by Linda Bleck, although bright and colourful, are not really to my taste (too much pink, and much too cutesy). And while they do highlight the joy and general cheerfulness of the spring season, they do not really seem to complement the text itself all that well. Wendy Pfeffer's narrative, although joyously optimistic, is in essence a rather mature, informative text (a text for older children), while Linda Bleck's illustrations seem more suitable for picture books geared towards very young children. Also, the illustrations seem a bit girly to me, and I wonder if boys might balk at reading this otherwise excellent picture book because they think that the illustrations are too pink and too girlishly cute. ( )