A Field Guide to Spring: Play and Learn in Nature

by Gabby Dawnay, Dorien Brouwers (Illustrator), Louise Black (Contributor)

A charming series inspired by the Forest School movement, teaching young children how to engage with nature from season to season. A Field Guide to Spring is a pocket-sized introduction to spring, inspired by the Forest School movement. Building on children’s natural curiosity about the world around them, this book aims to establish a connection with nature at an early age that will go on to last a lifetime! Hunt for seedlings, squelch around in the mud, identify birds' eggs, and build your own nest. Discover how tadpoles transform into frogs and why rainbows appear in the sky. The first in the Wild By Nature series, A Field Guide to Spring features lyrical poems, hands-on crafts and activities, scientific facts, and identifier pages to help children find different plants and animals. Whether a child’s access to nature is in the form of an urban park, a private garden, a field, or a forest, there is so much to discover and experience. Illustrated in color throughout

Genres: Nature

64 pages, Hardcover

Published April 2, 2024

Reviews

[Jessica Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Field Guide to Spring is the sort of book to which curious kids will be drawn. Everything about it invites them to explore the natural world around them. Topics range from senses and amphibians to splashing and mud. This book would be an excellent resource in a classroom or homeschool or just fun for kids after school or on the weekends.

Gaby Dawnay’s warm text is inquisitive and insightful. Prompts inspire investigation beyond the book. Dorien Brouwers’ charming illustrations are featured in cheerful full color throughout. This is a great start to a new series.

[Kitchen Sink Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a Spring person then I hope you will agree that it seems Spring has finally sprung and there is nothing better than exploring all the wonder that nature has to offer as it comes so beautifully back to life after the winter. But did you realise that Spring is not just the daffodils flowering or the days getting longer? There is so much more to Spring, surprises around every corner and its very important not only to keep your eyes open so that you don’t miss anything but also to remember to have some quiet time for reflection and joy too. Gabby Dawnay has found twenty-six different ways for us to enjoy Spring in her A Field Guide to Spring which have been rendered in illustration too by Dorien Brouwers. So, if you are discovering for the first time how seedlings become plants you can read about it and see it too. Perfect. This little book is just that, the perfect companion and bursting with so many ideas that you might still be engrossed with them by the time summer comes around!

With this book as your guide make sure to turn on your curiosity, creativity, and kindness as they are all going to be invaluable to discovering the natural world, making it fun, making discoveries and simply making… When you are looking for signs of spring and you spot seedlings growing, for example, you could get creative by making your own seed balls (instructions included) and creating food for lots of different insects in the process. Learn how to identify Spring flowers and blossoms, how to spot pond life and follow the tadpoles as they grow into frogs. Maybe while you are there, at the pond, you can do some pond dipping and look for amphibians too? Signs of new life are not limited to the flowers and the pond, birds’ nest and lay their eggs, many animals have new babies and you will likely see plenty of animals frolicking in the springtime sun! Of course there is bound to be rain too, learn why it rains, how to measure it, how to hunt rainbows and of course discover the fun of splashing in the mud! After all this fun why not sit under a tree, relaxing with a poem or two, planning your next springtime adventure?

I write reviews for Armadillo Children's Books and this one appeared in my weekly newsletter, Postbag Picks, in March 2024.