Connecting Children and Nature

We all know that picture books can be powerful. They’re catalysts for sparking a child’s imagination, igniting a new interest, or opening the door to a whole new way of seeing the world.  Sometimes a book’s impact is so dramatic it completely changes a child’s life!

That’s what happened with Sunshine on my Shoulders—John Denver’s words and Christopher Canyon’s artwork awakened a little girl’s ability to speak. It all happened in an instant, much in the same way that Helen Keller experienced a dramatic awakening to language through her experience with water. Everything just clicked! We learned about this experience from the little girl’s aunt.

“Sunshine on my Shoulders, and the illustrations captured the imagination of my niece causing her to say her very first sentence! . . . As a special education teacher myself, I remain in awe of what one book did to change my whole family.”

Here are the inspiring details of this family’s experience:

“My niece was a developmentally delayed, non-verbal toddler. Shortly after birth she stopped breathing and needed to be medically airlifted to a hospital, where many code blues where called to keep her alive over the next 24 hours. As she grew, she hit her milestones late, and remained non-verbal much longer than the average toddler. She struggled to be understood, but couldn’t find words to string together into ideas. She only knew four words: Mommy, Daddy, no, and kitty.

 I thought a “kitty” would be the key to unlock my niece’s voice, so I suggested that my sister and her husband scour the library and get out any books with kitties. Sunshine on my Shoulder was in the mix one day, and that was the day my niece’s life changed. One of the illustrations has a man with a guitar sitting next to a kitty. My sister asked “Where’s the kitty?” My niece started screaming; not saying anything just pointing. She kept screaming insistently, then after looking at the picture intensely she said, “ne pababu” (“Next to Papa Bruce.”) Papa Bruce is her grandpa. He plays a guitar like the man in the illustration, and the kitty was sitting right next to him.

Over the course of a few weeks my sister read her the book daily, and slowly my niece’s vocabulary grew. Months later I can proudly say that the combination of the singsong passages in the book, together with the imagination-inspiring artwork, my niece is verbal! This book pushed her to think abstractly, and to pull from relevant experience to explain the imagery. I remain in awe of what one book did to change my whole family.”

The WOW! Factor consists of the elements of a book that cause readers to exclaim, “Wow, I didn’t know that!” or “Wow, that’s really cool!”

However, the WOW! Factor is much more than the simple reporting of amazing information or incredible facts. There is a host of books that abound with isolated tidbits of information. A well-crafted book also embeds those facts within the context of a story. Stories put science into a meaningful context—one that engages the reader through personal connections. So, too, must the passion and excitement of the writer be evident to readers or a book becomes nothing more than a compendium of random data.

The WOW! Factor played a prominent role in Tall Tall Tree. This book describes creatures found in the canopy of iconic redwood trees—chattering squirrels, roosting bats, busy bumblebees, and dancing ladybugs all inhabit this elevated ecosystem. I wanted readers to experience the discoveries that could be made in a small ecological niche—in short, the never-ending story about a collection of creatures and how they live together more than 200 feet above the forest floor. In this instance, the “wow-ness” of nature was presented in a counting book that invites reader engagement and participation.

When children read WOW! Factor books, they gain a true appreciation for science in their everyday lives. When combined with the elements of good storytelling those facts become personal and intensely meaningful. Children begin to sense that learning about the world in which they live is a passionate affair—one that puts all the senses on full alert—and one shared by the author as well as the reader. To offer less is to deny children the joy of discovery and the thrill of adventure that waits under one rock or up in a tall tall tree!

Editor’s note: Tall Tall Tree recently won the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award (Gold)

Excerpted from “Navigating Nonfiction,” a monthly column by Anthony D. Fredericks. Read the entire article at SBCWI’s Eastern Penn Points.

Reading aloud books about science can serve several purposes, including sparking children’s interest in science topics and improving their reading and comprehension skills. The following tips are excerpted or paraphrased from Even More Picture Perfect Science Lessons, K-5 by authors Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry. They’re sure to help you make your read-aloud time productive and meaningful.

1. Preview the Book—Make sure the book meets your science objectives. Check for any errors or misinformation. Decide if you will read the entire book or just part of it.
2. Set the Stage—Remember that reading aloud is a performance. Gather students in a special reading area and make sure they can easily see you andthe book. Clarify expectations for appropriate behavior.
3. Celebrate the Author and Illustrator—Tell students the names of the author and illustrator, showing them photos and adding interesting biographical information. Mention other titles they’ve written or illustrated.
4. Read with Expression—Practice reading the book aloud to improve your performance. Engage your audience with louder and softer speech, funny voices, dramatic pauses, facial expressions, or gestures. Make eye contact with students now and then as you read.
5. Share Pictures—Hold the book so all students can see the illustrations or photos on each page. In some cases you may want to wait to show the image until children have a chance to visualize what is happening in the text.
6. Encourage Interaction—Keep chart paper and pens handy to record questions or new information. Provide children with “think pads” so they can write down their thoughts and questions. Give children opportunities to “turn and talk” with a partner.
7. Keep the Flow—Avoid excessive interruptions that might disrupt fluent, expressive reading. If the book combines a story with science content, you may want to read it first for the story and a second time to emphasize the content.
8. Model Reading Strategies—Before, during, and after reading aloud model these six key reading strategies: making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring, determining importance, and synthesizing.
9. Don’t Put It Away—Keep the book accessible to students after you read it. Give them an opportunity to look carefully at the illustrations or read the book independently.
10. Have Fun—Let your passion for books show. It is contagious! Seeing an authentic response from the reader is important for students—laugh at the funny parts and cry at the sad parts.

How can you encourage feelings of gratitude for nature in children? The best way is to give kids a direct experience of nature’s beauty, awe, or power. And the good news is that nature experiences don’t require a trip to the wilderness. Simply being outside is the first step.

Dawn Suzette’s blog Mudpuddles to Meteors suggests simple and easy ways to get kids outside during the month of November. Sign up for her annual Fall Outside email to get an outside nature activity for each day of the month. That’s 30 activities! For example: Eat a meal outside—Have everyone fill their plates in the kitchen and head outside. Want seconds? Head back in to the stovetop and grab a spoonful! Making a one-pot wonder (a meal you can make in one pot or dish) makes getting outside so easy because you only need is a bowl and a spoon. If it all still seems overwhelming, start out with a snack. Once you’re outside, let nature provide the magic.

If children are reluctant get outside, let nature picture books provide the impetus.

For example, read A Moon of My Own—a story about a girl who travels the world (if only in her dreams) discovering natural wonders with her companion the Moon. After noticing the phases on each page, go outside and look up at the moon. Then keep a “Moon Phase Journal” for an entire month.

With minimal text and evocative images, The Dandelion Seed entices children to explore the dandelions encouragement, “The world is more beautiful than you can imagine. You’ll see. You’ll see.” This books is a great lead-in to playing a game of “Nature I Spy” in the backyard or schoolyard.

The sweet (pun intended) story of If You Love Honey leads children through a meadow of plants and animals that part of the natural cycle that results is delicious honey. It sets the stage for finding something to appreciate in nature with the concluding words, “And you know who to thank for that!” An outdoor follow-up activity might be a game of “Nature I Spy,” as kids pair up to find objects in nature for each letter of the alphabet.

Adults telling kids to appreciate nature doesn’t work. But animals become excellent teachers in Granny’s Clan. After learning about the life of orcas, and reading about ways people honor them, children’s hearts and minds naturally open up to the idea of saying “thank you.” This season you can create your own “celebration” for the wild animals (squirrels, birds, fish, frogs, etc.) in your area.

Wishing you and yours many opportunities to say thank you to nature this Thanksgiving!