This biography of Henry David Thoreau styled like a nature journal opens with the line, “There are four seasons in a year: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. I will begin with Spring.” Thoreau’s lifetime of observations around his home in Concord, Massachusetts, infuse every design aspect of this highly illustrated text. A dated timeline running across the bottom of each page introduces readers to the science of phenology (the timing of natural events) and shed light on Thoreau’s contributions to the study of climate change today. His attentive and detailed notes about plants and animals, day by day and from year to year, broaden the impact of his work beyond his well-known two years at Walden Pond. Pencil and watercolor illustrations, many with scientific labels, are awash on every page. Historical images of people, places, and documents provide social, political, and geographic context for Thoreau’s life and times, including his support of abolition and thoughts on Charles Darwin’s work.   (Ages 8-12)

Horn Book Starred Review: An excellent introduction to Thoreau and the turbulent times in which he lived.

School Library Journal Starred Review: An engaging and inspiring biographical title for budding scientists, artists, and environmentalists.

Kirkus starred review: A marvelous life survey of a perennially relevant historical figure.

One of Kirkus' Most Anticipated Children's Book of 2022

"A must read." - Elizabeth Bird, A Fuse 8 Production

Formatted like a nature notebook, this exploration of seasonal changes in Thoreau’s day is also a visual story of his life and times and a gentle introduction to climate change.

I Begin with Spring weaves natural history around Thoreau’s life and times in a richly illustrated field notebook format that can be opened anywhere and invites browsing on every page. Beginning each season with quotes from Thoreau’s schoolboy essay about the changing seasons, Early Bloomer follows him through the fields and woods of Concord, the joys and challenges of growing up, his experiment with simple living on Walden Pond, and his participation in the abolition movement, self-reliance, science, and literature.

The book’s two organizing themes—the chronology of Thoreau’s life and the seasonal cycle beginning with spring—interact seamlessly on every spread, suggesting the correspondence of human seasons with nature’s. Thoreau’s annual records of blooms, bird migrations, and other natural events scroll in a timeline across the page bottoms, and the backmatter includes a summary of how those dates have changed from his day to ours and what that tells us about the science of phenology and climate change.

Megan Baratta’s watercolors are augmented with historical images and reproductions of Thoreau’s own sketches to create a high-interest visual experience. The book includes a foreword from Thoreau scholar Jeffrey Cramer, Curator of Collections for the Walden Woods Project.