Now I See Spring

Mac Barnett is a New York Times bestselling author of over 60 children’s books, including Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, Extra Yarn, How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? and the Shapes series, all illustrated by Jon Klassen; Just Because illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault; A Polar Bear in the Snow illustrated by Shawn Harris; John’s Turn illustrated by Kate Berube, as well as the Mac B., Kid Spy series and The First Cat in Space graphic novels. His books have been translated into over 30 languages and sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. Mac’s books have won many prizes, including two Caldecott Honors, three New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Awards, three E.B. White Read Aloud Awards, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and several international prizes. He is the co-creator, with Jon Klassen, of Shape Island, a stop-motion animated series on Apple TV+, based on their best-selling Shapes series of picture books. Mac was named the 2025-2026 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Library of Congress. His website is macbarnett.com and his Instagram handle is @macbarnett.Jon Klassen is the author-illustrator of the #1 New York Times bestselling I Want My Hat Back, which won a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor, and its companions This Is Not My Hat, which won a Caldecott Medal and a Kate Greenaway Medal, and We Found a Hat, a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of the Year. He is the creator of the Your Places board book series; the picture book The Rock from the Sky; illustrated fiction book The Skull; and he is the illustrator of Extra Yarn, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, Triangle, Square, and Circle, all written by Mac Barnett. Originally from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Jon Klassen now lives in Los Angeles. Find him on Instagram as @burstofbeaden.

In an ever-changing, fast-paced world, there is something calmly reassuring about the board book collaborations by Barnett and Klassen. Small amounts of text and simple shapes with textured pastel colours leave plenty of room left for the reader to fill in the space with their own reflections. Drawn from the child’s perspective, the standout page for us was ‘Me’, a picture of a shadow against a boarded house; because no spring walk is complete without chasing long, sun-spun shadows.