Outside

by Libby Hathorn, Roitva Voutila (Illustrator)

Like the garden it portrays, Outside is a wonderland waiting to be explored, a shimmery place of texture, luminosity and colour where time stands still and memories are born.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Libby Hathorn is an Australian writer who produces poetry, picture books, drama, novels, short stories, and nonfiction for children, young adults, and adults. Best known in the United States for her critically acclaimed novel Thunderwith, Hathorn has created works ranging from serious stories of troubled youth to lighthearted, fast-paced comedies. She writes of powerful female characters in her novels for junior readers, such as the protagonists in All about Anna and The Extraordinary Magics of Emma McDade; or of lonely, misunderstood teenagers in novels such as Feral Kid, Love Me Tender, and Valley under the Rock. As Maurice Saxby noted in St. James Guide to Children's Writers, "In her novels for teenagers especially, Hathorn exposes, with compassion, sensitivity, and poetry the universal and ongoing struggle of humanity to heal hurts, establish meaningful relationships, and to learn to accept one's self—and ultimately—those who have wronged us."

Reviews

[Amber Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations and a rhythmic prose.

[Paul Graham Terpstra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terrifying illustrations of human faces on animals. And strange misshapen figures. Very scary and strange for a children’s book. Who signed this book off to be published? Could be a horror for adults

[Homegrown Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first thing that Outside reminded me of was the new Tim Burton, Alice and Wonderland.

img_1417.jpgThe illustrations are colorful, surreal, unique, whimsical even and they make each page oddly fascinating. They definitely border on the edge of strange but end up being endearing. Each illustration is lovingly completed with intricate detail that could be admired for much longer than it takes to read the page. I picked this up because I wanted to admire it further but was surprised when Bug chose it for afternoon reading. He tends to gravitate towards basic, vibrant illustrations. Outside’s pictures are much more mature in that aspect. I grabbed another book when we initally picked Outside up because I was sure we were going to read one page and then be done but he loved every page. He loved the rhymes, and the visual representation of the metaphors provided by the story (i.e. the bells chiming in the trees).

Each page begins with “What’s that?” and then has a verse about something to be discovered outdoors. The story implies that the older sister is explaining to her younger brother the joys of being outside. They’re cat follows along as they spend the entire day exploring their backyard. The final piece of each verse ends with “…under the fluttery leaves in the magical breeze in the summery sun outside.”

The only thing that I wasn’t a huge fan of was the cat and sheep. They’re illustrated with human faces and it’s oddly disturbing. Although, Bug didn’t mind at all so maybe it just weirds me out.

Story Tips:

-Every time we read fluttery leaves and magical breeze I made a wooshing noise and tickled Bug. He loved it. Of course, the page about tickly green grass is perfect for this too.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful kaleidoscopic illustrations, and a lovely repetitive, cumulative text, extolling the virtues of spending time outside, and the joys that can be found there.

http://astrongbeliefinwicker.blogspot...

[Julie Grasso · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved this book so much we loved it by Gigi age 5