Wondering Around

by Meg Fleming (Author) Richard Jones (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

What do you wonder when you wander outside?

This lyrical picture book reveals the creativity and curiosity that comes from exploring the outdoors.

From mysterious footprints on a forest path to mystifying reflections of water on sand, nature has a way of making us curious. Wondering Around is a deliciously woven celebration of how wondering about one small thing in nature can lead to infinite discovery.

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Hardcover
$18.99

Publishers Weekly

Encouraging readers to wonder "out the window," "down a pathway," "with a paddle," and beyond, Fleming’s mixed rhymes braid themes of discovery and nature, while Jones’s acrylic and digital art employs chromatic, imaginative depictions that amplify the verse. A bespectacled brown-skinned child finds a bustling city of insects beneath a rock, complete with monuments, high-rises, and a school bus ("Wonder underneath things"). Elsewhere, gazing into a pond, a diminutive dog sees a lion staring back. Assorted habitats and seasons are on display, as children of varying abilities and skin tones swim, climb trees, and make nature-themed art, among other exploratory activities. When the closely related "wander" makes an appearance in the text, it’s a nod at the balance of interiority and exteriority that can lend a sense of intrigue to any outdoor jaunt. 

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.


ALA/Booklist

Try this out to stimulate children’s curiosity in words and pictures.
Meg Fleming
Meg Fleming is the author of Sometimes Rain, I Heart You, Here Comes Ocean!, Sounds Like School Spirit, and Wondering Around. A former voice teacher, Meg draws on her love of rhythm, rhyme, and lyricism to create and imagine stories. She lives outside of San Francisco with her husband and three kids. Visit her at MegFleming.net.

Born in Warwickshire, Richard Jones has been living and working in Devon for over 20 years. After leaving university with a degree in graphic design and illustration, he stayed on a little longer to complete a PhD. He spent several years working in a busy children's library, issuing and shelving other artists' picture books before one day wondering if it wasn't about time he had a proper go at creating one or two himself! He now writes and illustrates from the smallest room in his home. Across the roof tops of Exeter, and between the rounded Devon hills, he can just about make out the distant sparkling sea.
Classification
-
ISBN-13
9781534449350
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Beach Lane Books
Publication date
May 03, 2022
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV051000 - Juvenile Fiction | Imagination & Play
JUV039090 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | New Experience
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
Library of Congress categories
Picture books
Stories in rhyme
Nature
Curiosity

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