Nature’s Day

We had a surprise package through the post.  Imagine our joy when we opened it (bemused as to what it could be) and discovered this beautiful book inside!  We had been sent it by Wide Eyed Editions to review. As this blog and my coffee-come-nature table (also in the photo above) attests, we love to get out and about learning about the nature that surrounds us, so this was a great choice of book to send us!

Nature’s Day is a children’s non-fiction book and it takes you on a journey through the seasons of the year based on eight different locations: the garden; the veg patch; the woods; the farm; the fields; the pond; the orchard and the street.  Each season sees a visit back to each location to see what is happening and what one might see there at that time of year.

The book is recommended for readers of 5+ years, but is also very approachable for younger children – Minnie (3yrs) had particular fun picking out the various animals and plants she recognised and asking what the other ones were.  Even Arty was attracted by the bright and colourful illustrations (as you can see from below).

Part of Wide Eyed Edition’s ‘blurb’ for themselves is that they:

Believe that books should encourage curiosity about the world we live in, inspiring readers to set out on their own journey of discovery.

And this book did that.  Reading it had Minnie out into the garden checking that we had some of the vegetables in the book.  She didn’t believe that we had a courgette plant until I pointed it out to her in a sunny corner, complete with yellow flowers as the book promised!    It certainly acted as a young child-accessible springboard for further investigation and I can see it being used again and again for ideas on what to look for when we’re out and about on our walks.

Judging by the quality of this book and the ensuing enjoyment, we’ll certainly be looking out for more Wide Eyed Editions books in the future (there are some lovely-looking ones on their website).

Useful Information:

• Title: Nature’s Day
• Author: Kay Maguire
• Illustrator: Danielle Kroll
• Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
• ISBN: 978-1-84780-608-6
• Recommended for readers 5+ years

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