Poems for Every Season: A Year of Haiku, Sonnets, and More -- Bette Westera, Hardcover

"A remarkable collaboration." --Kirkus Reviews (STARRED REVIEW)

Poetry and the beauty of nature combine for this breathtaking celebration of the year.

In this stunning combination of wordcraft and woodcuts, readers meet the changing seasons with thirteen poems, all in different poetic structures, from award-winning Dutch author Bette Westera. Each season opens with a haiku, following with the season's months and their poems. Readers will dance into March with a rondel for a newborn lamb, wave in the August wind with a five-line tanka for a summer sunflower, snuggle in for December with a limerick for all those who stayed home instead of going south...

Exquisite woodcut art from Henriette Boerendans, an artist making her US and UK debut, showcases the wonder of the natural world. Back matter offers further details about the poems' structures--offering the perfect opportunity for young writers to write their own sonnet for February or quatrain for September. Translated from the Dutch by David Colmer.

Poetic types spotlighted:

• Haiku
• Rondel
• Acrostic
• Double dactyl
• Pantoum
• Elevenie
• Tanka
• Quatrain
• Diamante
• Rondelet
• Limerick
• Stacking Poem
• Sonnet

Author: Bette Westera
Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
Published: 02/17/2026
Pages: 56
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780802856524
Audience: Ages 9-12

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2025

About the Author

Bette Westera has written over fifty books for children, including Fast Cheetah, Slow Tortoise and the Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book Later, When I'm Big (both Eerdmans). She has also translated books by Dr. Seuss, Astrid Lindgren, and Julia Donaldson into the Dutch language. Bette lives in the Netherlands, where her books have received two Golden Pencil awards and six Silver Pencil honors. Visit her website at bettewestera.nl.

Henriette Boerendans is an Amsterdam-based printmaker and illustrator. Poems for All Seasons is her English-language debut. While walking in nature together one day, Bette and Henriette brainstormed new projects and came up with the idea for this book. Follow Henriette on Instagram @henriette.boerendans and visit her website at boerendans.com.

David Colmer is an Australian writer and translator of Dutch and Flemish literature. He has translated over eighty books throughout his career, including I'll Root for You, A Pond Full of Ink, and Fast Cheetah, Slow Tortoise (all Eerdmans). His work has been honored with many awards, including the PEN Translation Prize and the Dutch Foundation for Literature's James Brockway Prize, which recognizes a translator's body of Dutch-language poetry. David lives in Amsterdam.