SLOW DOWN . . . ON YOUR DOORSTEP

What’s more magical than nature?

Six brief, charming verses and colorful, endearing illustrations offer up a world of wonderment in familiar surroundings as well as simple, easily digestible information to young readers: A butterfly emerges from its chrysalis, dew forms and evaporates, birds greet the dawn with song, a bee goes about its vital pollination work, a chick hatches, and a spider weaves an intricate, ingenious web. Children are given the opportunity to witness these familiar but no less thrilling phenomena up-close and personal, in the here and now, not only surprising them with the natural world’s amazements, but also reminding them to revel in and be mindful of the wonders as they’re occurring in the moment—hence the Slow Down admonition in the book’s title. Each natural-world miracle in this sweet board book, a British import, is delivered in a two-page spread, with a rhyme on the verso page and intimate pen-and-ink and digitally colored illustrations presented in panels on the recto page. Several words in each rhyme are set in a larger, boldface font with capital letters. The lilting rhymes scan well and benefit from being read aloud. Apart from youngsters enjoying listening to and learning from these delightful rhymes, they can be encouraged to suggest other natural phenomena that fascinate them and then illustrate their ideas. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A lovely aural and visual introduction to some of nature’s miracles.