The Mud Smells Happy On Our Shoes

When Bennett was born, friends of our family got his library off to a great start with a pile of wonderful books.  This book, A Child’s Calendar by John Updike, with illustrations by Trina Shart Hyman, is one of our favorites!

The book contains twelve poems, one for each month of the year, and is sure to be a favorite of anyone who loves to keep an eye on the changing of the seasons.

I’m not usually a fan of rhyming poetry, but these poems are especially sweet: perfect for children, but with appeal for grown-ups, too.

Here is the poem for March, which we have learned by heart, and which we recite to Bennett as we look out the window or go on a walk, where, yes, we see crocuses, robins, and chickadees, and where, yes, the mud smells happy on our shoes!

March

The sun is nervous
As a kite
That can’t quite keep
Its own string tight.

Some days are fair,
And some are raw.
The timid earth
Decides to thaw.

Shy budlets peep
From twigs on trees,
And robins join
The chickadees.

Pale crocuses
Poke through the ground
Like noses come
To sniff around.

The mud smells happy
On our shoes.
We still wear mittens,
Which we lose.

- John Updike, A Child’s Calendar (1965, revised 1999)