Outside, You Notice

Written by Erin Alladin

Illustrated by Andrea Blinick

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-193-9

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

April 2021

How often do we notice things, especially things in the outdoors, that are right under our noses? Erin Alladin wants us to open our eyes, ears, noses and touch the world to know the wonders that our world holds outside, no matter what your outside looks like.

 

From Outside, You Notice by Erin Alladin, illus. by Andrea Blinick

As children and others participate in the world outside, whether it be a backyard, a park, a playground, a sidewalk or something else, there are so many things to check out, and Erin Alladin makes sure we see it all. Each double-spread asks the reader to notice one attribute of nature like the rain, the soil, leaves or colours, and then info boxes provide brief content related to that focus. For example, when asked to notice "How after the rain everything smells greener," we learn about leaves capturing rain, how a tree's canopy provides cover, why the rain can smell like it does, and why plants get the rain they need.

 

From Outside, You Notice by Erin Alladin, illus. by Andrea Blinick

We discover how animals make the outdoors their homes, how they live, and the sounds they make. We learn about life cycles of plants, from seeds and germination, to flowers and fruits. Above ground and below, along water ways and at farmers' markets, there is so much to see and learn.

From Outside, You Notice by Erin Alladin, illus. by Andrea Blinick

With Outside, You Notice, Erin Alladin has invited the reader to explore and make observations and grow themselves into sentient beings beyond the confines of our indoors. She may provide information tidbits that instruct and direct inquiry, so perfect for science lessons with little ones, but she also asks us to be mindful of our worlds. Outside, You Notice gives us the prompts to stop and smell and look and touch in the moment, wherever that moment may be. The experiences will be as diverse as the children who are doing the noticing, and the learning as fulfilling and filling as can be. With that, a calmness will envelop the reader, taking away the bustle and the tech, as the focus is on the world we too often take for granted.

Outside, you notice

The breath in your body

Your feet on the ground

Your self in the world

Toronto artist Andrea Blinick uses gouache, coloured pencils, collage and chalk pastel to create the diversity of textures, colours and shape that convey the sensory nature of the text and take us into the outdoors. The eyes that see, the dog that sprints, the dandelions being picked, the sweetness of a strawberry about to be eaten–Andrea Blinick takes us there, to appreciate and acknowledge the outdoors and its moments.

 

Whether a child of the city or the country, of a place of rain or sunshine, trees or fields or concrete, there is a world of wonder that is the landscape of our lives. With Outside, You Notice inviting us to explore and appreciate the sensations and marvels of the outdoors, young readers can only flourish.

From Outside, You Notice by Erin Alladin, illus. by Andrea Blinick