All Around Me I See

Beautiful illustrations. Thought-provoking lines on each one that will help me and my granddaughter begin a discussion about what else we can find through it and the illustrations. I had expected more of a story line or more thoughts expressed, but I like this just fine. It leaves the rest of the creative thoughts to come from us.

Laya Steinberg Dawn Publications (2008) ISBN 9781584690696 Reviewed by Cayden (age 4) and Max (age 2) Aures and Mom for Reader Views (8/08) "All Around Me I See" is "A Simply Nature Board Book" from the series published by Dawn Publications. This book takes various occurrences and pieces of nature and encourages looking at them in a different way. For instance, "The wind is a wing for a seed." And, "The rain is a drink for the Earth." Cayden: "Those bees on the cover are drinking out of the flowers." Max: "Bees, Bzzzzzzz! Daisies!" Cayden: "I like that the rain gives the Earth a drink. Like when I water the grass with the hose, that gives the Earth a drink too!" Cayden: "A puddle is a bath for a bird but it is for kids to splash in too!" Max: "Jump in puddle!" Cayden: "The rock is the frog's island like we were on an island camping a couple of days ago." Cayden: "The forest is the tree's family? He has lots of people in his family then!" Max: "Bees!" Cayden: "There is the bee picture that was on the cover again." Max: "Girl fly! Cayden: "She IS flying! How does she do that?" Cayden: "That was a good book! My favorite part was the buffet for the bees!" Parent's comments: I thought that "All Around Me I See" by Laya Steinberg is a clever book encouraging imagination. It takes ordinary things and looks at them in a different way, like the bee buffet that Cayden mentioned. "A meadow is a feast for the bee" is the exact wording for that particular one. I found the book to be creative and unique and think that I enjoyed it almost as much as my children. It even made me look at some things in ways that I had never thought of before!