Out and About

PreS-Gr 1—Shirley Hughes fans will be excited to see this book back in print. Readers will delight in following Katie and her baby brother Olly through the four seasons. Four to five short, rhythmic poems are grouped together by season. Each season and group of poems is prefaced by a wordless spread that begs for readers to spend time pondering the stories and poems. These busy illustrations are full of community, action, and mystery and appropriately match each season. Strong, descriptive vocabulary is used throughout. For example, the poems "Mudlarks," "Water," "Sand," and "Wind" each follow a similar structure: they all open and close in the same way ("I like mud" and "I do like mud"), but in between those simple lines is juicy, descriptive vocabulary ("the slippy, sloppy, squelchy kind") that paints a picture in readers' minds. An author's note from Hughes also encourages readers to use the illustrations to form their own stories and poems. From the nostalgic watercolor illustrations to the science-themed poems, this is sure to be a favorite read-aloud among educators and a lapsit with families.—Andy Plemmons, David C. Barrow Elementary, Athens, GA