Spring Is a New Beginning was published by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1963. The book is one of Anglund’s seasonal meditations — brief aphoristic texts paired with illustrations that explore the emotional resonance of a particular time of year.
Spring, in Anglund’s treatment, is not merely a meteorological event but an emotional and spiritual one: the world’s annual renewal mirrors the human capacity to begin again, to leave behind what is dead or finished and move toward new growth. Each spread pairs a statement about spring’s physical qualities (new leaves, returning birds, soft rain, warming soil) with an implicit parallel to human experience.
The illustrations show Anglund’s small children in spring landscapes: planting seeds, watching birds build nests, splashing in puddles, picking flowers. The palette shifts from the cool blues and grays of winter toward the warm greens and golds that signal growth. The children’s round, featureless faces register delight without specificity — they are any child discovering the season for the first time.
The book functioned commercially as an Easter and spring-season gift, but its themes of renewal and fresh starts also made it appropriate for other transitions: new babies, new homes, new relationships, recovery from illness or loss.
Collecting Spring Is a New Beginning
First edition (Harcourt, Brace & World, New York, 1963): Small hardcover, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $20–$50
- Very good/very good: $8–$20