Outside Your Window

Outside Your Window, A First Book of Nature

2/22/2021

Candlewick Press, 2012

"Winter is a slow, low time. Everything is hiding from the cold; just staying alive is enough. Days are short, but the long frosty nights blaze with stars and spring is just a moon or two away."

Nicola Davies

Davies (1958 - ), a zoologist, is one of the original presenters on the BBC The Really Wild Show which is still running on Animal Planet in the U.S. She began writing children's books in the late 90s and has published more than 80 titles. Her most well-known title in the U.S. is Poop: A Natural History of the Unmentionable.

Mark Hearld

Hearld (1974 - ) works across multiple media including ceramics, lithographic prints, oil and watercolors, as well as fabrics and wall-papers. The illustrations in Outside Your Window, his only children's book, exhibits Hearld's colorfully whimsical style.

Book Synopsis

Outside Your Window is an excellent addition to any child's non-fiction collection. In fact, it is one of those early poetry books kiddos will return to over and over through the primary grades for the clarity of the poetry, as well as for the opportunity to compare or confirm their own nature observations with the information in the book.

Each season - section - opens with a short description of what is happening outside followed by a number of poems which further illuminate seasonal wonders.

Picture book, early chapter book readers, poetry, non-fiction; 110 pages. First nature book which children will return to over and over.

If you resonate with Charlotte Mason's method for learning at home and desire a fully prepared unit of lessons about winter, Alicia Hutchinson offers Nature Kids: The Winter Edition for a modest cost. Created for 5 to 12 year olds.

Learning Options

Family Read Aloud Time
Sharing one or two poems at a time with children is a gentle way to talk about the seasons and discuss what he or she has seen outside. Helping to draw comparisons between experience and what is read or heard builds a greater awareness of the world.

Classroom Resource
Outside Your Window is an excellent poetry - information book about nature and the seasons. It could also be used as a beautiful art resource.

Learning at Home
This title could be used throughout the year; for example, the autumn poem about berry picking is accompanied by a recipe which could be incorporated in math or life skills lessons. Or an entire unit could be developed around one season, such as winter, which could include lessons about

Unfortunately, this book is not currently available through Bookshop.org.
Try your local library or bookstore.
If all else fails, try one of the online used bookstores.