Children's book about a season clock and winter confining spring in his castle I remember having a picture book as a child and I really would like to know its name and author. In it, the story goes as follows: A watch maker and his apprentice take care of a season clock that tracks the seasons of the year. When the clock stops working (it doesn't move from winter to spring), the apprentice is sent to find out what is wrong. Then he learns that winter caught spring in his castle, so he sets out to free her (so seasons are portrayed as people here). I read it in German, but probably it exists in other languages as well. I know it's not a lot, but probably still someone knows it?

This sounds like _**The Season Clock**_ (1986) by Valerie Littlewood and Michael Foreman, published by Viking Books for Young Readers. The publisher’s description on Amazon matches the details in your post:

> When Father Time’s apprentice tampers with the Season Clock, Spring and Summer are captured and imprisoned in the Season Catcher’s castle.

The German translation was published by Verlag Herder as _**Peter und die Jahreszeiten**_. This is the cover, in case it jogs your memory:

![Brass gears and clock mechanisms surrounded by tree roots. A boy wearing a red onesie with green trimmings is pulling on a lever. At his feet is a grey rabbit-like animal with shiny scales.](