FICTION

Bringing the Outside In

by Mary McKenna SIDDALS
illus. by Patrice Barton. 32p. Random. 2016. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780449814307.
COPY ISBN
PreS—Four diverse children joyfully celebrate the messy nature of outdoor play through the seasons. The same refrain frames each season, "We're bringing the outside in, oh,/Bringing the outside in…" and the little ones are shown delighting in the best that each season offers for outdoor play. On the page turn, they repeat that they're bringing the outside in, but then they have to clean up. For summer, the children enjoy the beach, then return indoors, "shaking it off, washing it up, drying it out again" as they hang suits, wash off sand, and pick up toys. After experiencing each of the four seasons, they chant, "We're keeping the outside in, oh,/Keeping the outside in…" and spend time looking at photographs and treasuring the memories of good fun.
VERDICT A sweet addition to large collections.
Reviewed by Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN
The song-like rhyming tale celebrates children playing outside through the four seasons. Luminous digitally colored pencil sketches show children of many races sloshing through spring mud, frolicking at the beach, gathering fall apples, and bundled up in snow. A gentle refrain--"We're bringing the outside in, then..."--adds a playful jingle as the children bring inside the remnants of their outside play.
 , Mar 01, 2016

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