If you are prepared to take your time to look as you go there is much to be discovered if you take a walk through your neighbourhood. You can feel the tips of the tall grass brush your fingers as you listen to the rhythm of your footsteps. You can squint at the brightness of the sun as you try to catch your shadow. you can breathe in the scent of a crushed eucalyptus leaf, send dandelion pappus on a new adventure. and return the whisper of the ladybird and the warble of the magpie....
In this beautifully illustrated story, the reader joins a young girl with a feather in her hair on a walk and share the wonders she sees and listens and smells and feels and does along the way, not only sharing in the magic of her journey but raising their own awareness of what they might do, see, hear, smell and feel if they took a similar leisurely stroll just to be in the moment. No cameras, just sensations. Even if they don't live in the country, there is still much to experience in the natural world, even in the city.
Even though it's winter and in some places there is a bitter, brittle wind coming straight off the snow, taking a walk is a great way to combat the "I'm boreds" of the school holidays and really focus on making all your senses work. The sun is shining, it is the endless blue of the Australian sky with snow clouds billowing on the horizon as the wind gathers speed, the air is clean and sharp making my nose water, the Jenny Wrens are searching for seeds in the dry, not-green grass, there is a cockie squawking and magpies warbling that there is food in their dish, and somewhere nearby, there are possums sleeping in their daytime hidey-holes.... And I'm still standing at my front door...
This review can also be found here.
32 pages 9781923306066 Ages 4-8
Keywords: nature, observing, our connection with nature, neighborhood, adventure, plants, birds, insects, ecosystem, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old
Recommended by: Barbara Braxton, Teacher Librarian, New South Wales AUSTRALIA
Editor's note: Another book set in the natural environment of Australia: Rakali of the Riverbank by tells the story of a rakali who faces natural dangers at night from "the threats rakali face each day from feral and introduced species, humanmade fish traps, urbanization and climate change."
