Connecting to the outdoor world can be as simple as going through your front door. Or…it can start with a book!

Did you know that most children (5-8 years old) spend at least three hours a day on screens, and for older kids, it’s 5+ hours – and these are considered low estimates. Meanwhile, the time children spend outdoors engaging in unstructured play has plummeted. Some estimates are as low as five minutes a day.

Growing up is hard (and being a parent/caregiver is hard!). But connection makes it better. That is why Camp Fire connects young people to the outdoors, to others, and to themselves.

Camp Fire teamed up with the PLA to write this blog and highlight inspiring picture books that motivate us to get outside! Here are five we recommend:

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

The Snowy Day tells the story of Peter, a young Black boy exploring his neighborhood after a winter snowfall. With very few words, and with bold, minimalist illustrations, the book reveals a city neighborhood magically transformed by snow.

Published in 1962, The Snowy Day has had its share of critics. Though it was considered groundbreaking at the time because of its young Black protagonist, it was also challenged and banned on more than one occasion. But it also has generations of fans. In 2020, The Snowy Day topped the list of the most checked out books of all time by the New York Public Library.

Today, The Snowy Day could be considered groundbreaking not because of the protagonist’s race, but because of its portrayal of a free-range child, exploring his neighborhood without an adult in sight. Roaming the neighborhood bundled into a snowsuit, stick in hand, while parents remained indoors, was once a common feature in childhood. Now, it has all but vanished.

 Jayden’s Impossible Garden by Mélina Mangal and Ken Daley

Jayden’s Impossible Garden won the 2019 African American Voices in Children’s Literature writing contest and brings some of themes in The Snowy Day into the 21^st century. It tells the story of a Black boy named Jayden, living in a city where, his mother tells him, there is no nature. But Jayden finds nature wherever he looks: from squirrels foraging for nuts, to cardinals singing in the trees.

Jayden finds a kindred spirit in Mr. Curtis, a wheelchair bound senior citizen who loves being outside, and who, like Jayden, is not too busy to notice and admire a tiny crocus by the corner of a building. Soon, they form a friendship based on their mutual love of nature. Eventually, they hatch a plan to show others that there really is nature where they live. They begin to plant runner beans, nasturtiums, and other flowers using old milk jugs and cast-off containers. The flowers attract butterflies. Before long, the entire neighborhood has come outside, connecting to the nature around them, as well as to each other.

Tiny Perfect Things by M.H. Clark and Madelina Kloepper

Tiny Perfect Things (2018) tells a similar, yet uniquely magical story. This time, it features a child and her grandfather out on a walk through their neighborhood. Yet their ordinary walk is filled with treasures, as they see beams of light glinting off spider webs, a single leaf blown down by the wind, and a tiny snail crawling along a fence. This book captures the curiosity of a child, for whom the outdoor world is new. It shows how meaningful a walk between an adult and a child can be.

Outside In by Deborah Underwood; illustrated by Cindy Derby

Outside In is a 2020 Caldecott Honor Book. The story begins with these evocative lines: Once we were a part of Outside. And Outside was a part of us. But now, we often forget that outside is there.

Yet Outside has special ways of reminding us. It sneaks its light beams and shadows in through the windows. It taps gently on the glass. It takes new forms, in clothing, furniture, and in the food we eat. Even rivers come inside, the text states. The water we drink doesn’t exist just in our plumbing. It comes from Outside.

Outside, as presented in this book, is our friend. It misses us. It seeks to reconnect. But Outside is also with us more than we realize. We are reminded of the ways we continue to connect with Outside even when we are inside.

Sila and the Land by Shelby Angalik, Wentanoron (Ariana) Roundpoint, and Lindsay DuPre; Illustrated by Halie Finney

The last book we’d like to highlight is Sila and the Land. This beautiful picture book was written by three young Indigenous authors and draws on conversations between the authors and young people from First Nation, Métis, and Inuit communities across Canada about their relationship with the land. In the story, a young Inuk girl named Sila sets off on a journey to North, South, East, and West, talking to animals, plants, and different elements along the way. Each being she meets has something to teach her about her responsibility to the land, and about the protection of nature for future generations.

We invite families to enjoy these five books together, and to follow them up by getting  outside. This can be as simple as walking, strolling, or riding  around the block, or even around the library, looking for tiny, hidden treasures. Take a compass (or use an app) and determine which way is north, south, east, and west. Listen to bird song. Look under the leaves. Touch things that are soft, smooth, slimy, or sharp. Find a stick and measure a puddle.  Inhale the scent of the soil after a rain. Build a wonder box and fill it with treasures. (Just don’t harm anything living in the process.)

The phrase “I wonder…” can begin your journey. “I wonder where that slime trail came from?” “I wonder what that sticky mud feels like?” “I wonder what that basil leaf tastes like?” 

Go outside and wonder together!

The post Let’s Wonder Together: Book Inspiration to Get Outside with Kids first appeared on Public Libraries Online.