outdoors

How to Find a Fox by Nilah Magruder

| Tasha

how-to-find-a-fox-by-nilah-magruder

How to Find a Fox by Nilah Magruder (InfoSoup)

A little girl sets out to find a fox. She immediately finds a fox hole, but the fox isn’t home. She sets out fox bait, then hides and waits so long that she gets sleepy. She tries following fox tracks, but fox are sneaky animals. She puts out more bait and eventually falls fast asleep. She tries making fox calls. Finally, when she climbs a tree to look around, she spots the fox! But she loses him. The little girl is ready to give up, but convinces herself to keep on trying. Perhaps the solution is making the fox want to find her!

Magruder has created a wonderfully appealing picture book with an African-American protagonist. Both the little girl and the fox are dynamic characters who capture your attention. While the little girl searches for the fox, young readers will love spotting him themselves as the little girl just happens to be looking in the wrong direction. These missed encounters add to the excitement of the book. The entire book reads very well and is perfect to share aloud. It shares the value of resilience and persistence.

The art has a lot of charm and is reminiscent of Dora the Explorer which will make this a book that children pick up. There are illustrations that are wonderful, such as the little girl about to give up, lying flat on her back on the grass, spent. The art will project well for a group.

A great addition to storytime units on foxes or being outside. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Frank and Lucky Get Schooled by Lynne Rae Perkins

| Tasha

Frank and Lucky Get Schooled by Lynne Rae Perkins

Frank and Lucky Get Schooled by Lynne Rae Perkins (InfoSoup)

Frank was having a horrible day until his parents took him to get a new dog at the shelter. That’s when Frank met Lucky and Lucky met Frank. They learned a lot about each other, but they also both just loved learning things. Lucky loved science, especially learning about the ducks in the pond. He also loved exploring nature, handily bringing a lot of it back with him when he returned home so that Frank could study it closely. There was math too, questions about how many dog biscuits Lucky deserved and how much hair he could shed. Dogs can even be heroes, though Lucky may not have been particularly heroic when eating the entire birthday cake. Art, languages, geography and more were studied as Lucky and Frank spend time together. There is so much to learn when on walks together!

This is an unusual picture book, one that is immensely clever and completely noteworthy. Perkins doesn’t create a linear picture book here, rather the story of a boy and his dog is specifically told in different school subjects. This makes the book a very dynamic read and offers wry insights into the perspective of both dog and human as they spend their days together outdoors. The focus is on exploration and learning, which both of them do in different but also parallel ways. There is humor throughout, intelligently speaking to the relationship of human and pet but also to learning in a larger way about life.

The art by Perkins is stellar. Done in pen, ink and watercolor, the illustrations are humorous but also delicate and realistic. With different and interesting perspectives used, each page is different from the next but also part of a cohesive whole. A dynamic mix of different sized illustrations makes the book all the more fun to read.

Children will respond to the idea of learning in life and outdoors and will also love Lucky right from the beginning. Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Greenwillow Books.

 

 

The Bell in the Bridge by Ted Kooser

| Tasha

The Bell in the Bridge by Ted Kooser

The Bell in the Bridge by Ted Kooser, illustrated by Barry Root (InfoSoup)

Stuck at his dull grandparents’ house in the summer, Charlie is left alone most of the time. He spends time down by the stream collecting tadpoles, using his weed-whacking stick, and dropping stones from the iron bridge that crosses the stream. One day, he discovers that when he hits the bridge with a stone, it rings like a bell and echoes down the valley. He does this again and again and sometimes there seems to be a faint third “bong” that sounds. His grandmother explains that that is just how echoes work, but Charlie is sure that there is another person on a similar iron bridge ringing it too in response. Before he is able to solve the mystery, Charlie returns home, but not before readers discover the answer.

Poet Ted Kooser has turned his poetic writing to another book for children with another grand result. Kooser invites readers into Charlie’s world, weaving slow days of summer carefully with his words. He shows the beauty of these slow days, the potential for discovery of things that would otherwise be unnoticed in the fast pace of video games and TV. These are old-fashioned summer days but ones that modern children can discover too if they are willing to head outside, collect their own jars of creatures and sticks, and hit things with stones.

Root’s illustrations are filled with golden summer sun. Even the cool shade near the stream is dappled with it. The bridge across the stream is structural and one can clearly understand how it rings like a bell. The countryside is filled with greens and yellow oranges, showing open fields bordered with stream and trees. It’s a world to explore.

A gorgeous picture book that shows the luminous nature of summer days spent outside with a good mystery to keep you occupied. Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

 

Bringing the Outside In by Mary McKenna Siddals

| Tasha

Bringing the Outside In by Mary McKenna Siddals

Bringing the Outside In by Mary McKenna Siddals, illustrated by Patrice Barton (InfoSoup)

This picture book invites children to head outside and play in every season. The book begins in spring with children outside carrying umbrellas and jumping in puddles. They play with worms and get good and muddy. Then they head inside to dry off, dump out their boots, and mop up. Summer comes next with sand, water and shells. They carry it back inside with them too as they wash up from all of the sunshine. Autumn is next with apples and leaves that need to be picked off and raked up. Finally, there is winter with snow and ice that can be carried in and the children thawed out before a fire.

This is truly a celebration of playing outdoors. Each season begins with the line “We’re bringing the outside in, oh, bringing the outside in…” When the children head inside the line is repeated and readers can see how parts of being outside are actually brought inside with the children. The book ends with a collection of items saved from their year outside and slightly older children wanting to look through all of their treasures together.

The illustrations show such joy from the children as they spend time together outside. Grins spread ear-to-ear on their faces as they fly kites, stomp in puddles, jump in leaves and sled in snow. This book is pure warmth too, as children dry off, warm up and come back inside happily as well.

A book that shows the pleasure of being out of doors, this picture book should lead to a great ramble outside. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Penguin Random House and Edelweiss.

Review: Here in the Garden by Briony Stewart

| Tasha

here in the garden

Here in the Garden by Briony Stewart

Released March 1, 2015.

This import from Australia tells the seasonal story of a boy and his garden.  A boy spends time in his backyard, but is missing someone.  The wind blows, he plants seedlings in the garden, and dreams of his special someone joining his side.  When the rain comes, he watches from the back steps, still missing the one who would love to see the garden turn so green.  Summer comes with its sunshine and heat and the boy continues to feel his loss but begins to realize that he can still be in touch with the one he misses by being out in nature and enjoying the same things they used to do together.

Stewart beautifully allows the book to speak to anyone who has experienced loss.  In the end though, this book is clearly about the loss of a pet rabbit, the same one who is pictured at the boy’s side throughout the story.  That reveal is done tenderly and gently, clearly tying the boy to nature and to his memories of all the times they had together.  It’s beautifully and caringly presented.

Stewart’s art is washed in watercolors, colors that sweep and blow across the page, evoking the movement of air and the freshness of outdoors.  Though the book is filled with loneliness, the art remains resolutely lovely and cheery.  Even the one in the dark of night is filled with a light that illuminates.

A quiet story of grief, loss and the healing power of nature, this is a lovely little foreign title.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Kane Miller.

Review: Into the Outdoors by Susan Gal

| Tasha

into the outdoors

Into the Outdoors by Susan Gal

Learn your prepositions in the fresh air with this book that takes us up into the mountains and down into the forest.  A family heads out on a camping trip.  Along the way they go over a bridge and under the trees.  Once they reach the woods, they head out on a hike, following a trail around the lake, across a stream, and between some large rocks.  They return to their campsite and the fire, where the animals they saw on their hike have followed them back.  The entire book is playful and fun.

Gal has managed to structure a fine little story out of her prepositional phrases.  The family moves through their day, exploring the natural world.  While the book would be of use with prepositions and prepositional phrases, it is also a gem of a short read all on its own. 

Gal’s illustrations lift this book up, giving it a modern freshness that is not without whimsy.  From the very friendly and approachable animals, to the grin of the baby riding in its sling, this book has a merry and jaunty feel that one gets outdoors.

An enjoyable prepositional outdoor hike, this cheerful title will be embraced as a learning tool but also as a great bedtime read.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Alfred A. Knopf.

Review: Baby Unplugged Board Books

| Tasha

BlanketCoverweb HuttonPetsCover Web YardCoverBoxes

I rarely review books by self-published authors, but when I saw the covers for these books, I made an exception.  These are board books that have a particularly sunny and cheery point of view.  Each of these three books takes a subject and then spends time exploring many facets of it.  Blanket will surprise readers with a touch of humor and then ends with bedtime.  Pets talks about a wide variety of pets and ends with an emphasis on connection and love.  Yard, which is my favorite of the three, explores what children will find in their own yard as well as some of the wonder of wider nature. 

The illustrations of the books are done in a flat, friendly style where everyone is happy.  Filled with bright colors and done very simply, the illustrations are just right for the toddler or infant.  The books are written in rhyming pairs that work well, making reading aloud easy.

A particularly successful series of self-published board books, these books speak to the quality of some of the self-published work on the market.  They have a nice blend of modern illustration and timeless subjects.  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from copies received from Baby Unplugged.