Holiday time means more time to enjoy the great outdoors whether it is in your back garden, in the woods, or on your camping holiday. Here is a selection of books to accompany you on your great outdoors adventures!
Lulu Loves Flowers
Anna McQuinn (text) & Rosalind Beardshaw (artwork)
(Alanna Books)
Summer is a great time to get kids involved in helping out in the garden, might it be weeding, picking fruit or vegetables or anything else. In this gorgeous latest Lulu story, little Lulu decides she wants to grow flowers of her own and sets to do just what. In this series Anna McQuinn always put book, libraries and reading aloud at the heart of what makes children tick; this is utterly wonderful, and especially here, with the reading of non-fiction is promoted. With gorgeous heartwarming artwork by Rosalind Beardshaw, little readers will undoubtedly want to put their wellies on, and start working on their garden patch straight away.
The Little Gardener
Emily Hughes
(Flying Eye Books)
Emily Hughes offers her readers a view from the undergrowth in this majestically illustrated picturebook. This little gardener is Borrowers-size and struggles to contain his ever-growing garden. The one beautiful flower which grows is his pride and joy and thankfully also inspires ‘larger’ people to tackle the garden, while the little gardener sleeps off his exhaustion. When he wakes up, the garden is transformed. The Little Gardener celebrates the dedication and persistence needed to create a garden. Hughes’ detailed artwork is equally beautiful whether it portrays weeds or flowers, conveying that there is beauty to be found in all things, and has hints of William Morris. The use of colour is inspired, depicting the gradual transformation of the garden. A wonderful, unusual book, typical of Flying Eye Books’ offerings.
Eddie’s Tent and How to Go Camping
Sarah Garland
(Frances Lincoln)
Camping has never been my forte but the sound of waves is what I cherish most from my camping days, a sound Eddie discovers with great delight in this latest adventure, when the family uproots to the seaside for an exciting camping holiday. This is a lovely introduction to camping for those who have not yet camped and a lovely book to reminisce about camping memories for those who have. New friendships made, campfires, fish & chips vans, and building fires: surely, that is a child’s ideal holiday? With some great camping tips at the end, this is a lovely book for slightly older readers.
Nature’s Day
Kay Maguire (text) & Danielle Kroll (artwork)
(Wide Eyed Books)
A book for all seasons, Nature’s Day is incredibly beautiful, in the way we have come to expect from Wide Eyed Books. Highly illustrated non-fiction books are wonderful because for some readers they help knock down the invisible wall between reading for information and reading for pleasure.
For each season, nine places are featured: the garden, the veg patch, the woods, the farm, the fields, the pond, the orchard, the street which allows young readers to witness how the changes in seasons affect different habitats. The facts are rendered in an accessible way and lend the text easily lends itself to shared reading. Readers will feel compelled to go back to this timeless book over and over again.
Buy these books here
Source: review copies from publishers
