This week as we reflect on a year of covid restrictions here in the UK
I am feeling very blessed because for my four home educated children
Lockdown has looked much like the pages of this beautiful book
They have explored every inch of our garden and they have truly utilised Nature’s Toy Box
We never head out for our daily walk without at least one stick
And always come home with pockets filled with treasures
In the garden the children build dens, make camps, make potion and mudlicious concoctions
They befriend worms and toads and lie on the grass and gaze at the clouds
This wonderful book is a true celebration of outdoor play
And it is a reminder to parents that it really is okay to let our children get bored sometimes
These past few days
Much like this week last year
My children are spending most of their time in the garden
Exploring, adventuring and imagining
They learn more in those hours out in nature than they do sitting at the table with me
In Nature’s Toy Box Tilly heads out into the garden when her mummy turns off the TV
Tilly is fascinated by the call of a bird
It sounds like it is saying her name
She heads out to investigate and is soon lost in a world of imagination
As she roams the garden seeking the hiding bird the garden becomes her kingdom
Which she climbs a tree to survey
My children love the hide and seek element of the book
The calling bird is hiding in plain sight on every page
And Edie loves to find it
Bea loves Tilly’s cat who follows her everywhere and is very much a part of the adventure
Bea loves spotting what the cat is up to on each page
Tilly finds a stick and in a sequence familiar to many parents of young children
And of course to little readers themselves the stick becomes a wand, a telescope
A broomstick and a sword
Tilly gets up close with minibeasts and encounters magical creatures in the clouds
This book is such a joy to read aloud
And there is as much story in every illustration as there is in all the words
Just like my own children Tilly has a love of trinkets and treasures
She sets upon making a collection in the garden
All the while following the call of the bird
Tilly has a glorious time in her garden kingdom, playing hide and seek with the bird
She does not want it to end
She tells her mum as she is called inside … there are so many things to play with here!
Written by Wendy Shurety
Illustrated by Harriet Hobday
I love this book so much
It is wonderfully designed
The endpapers at the beginning show Tilly’s toys
Then at the the end of the book we see a riot of brightly coloured foliage
Speckled with bees, butterflies, dragonflies and of course the calling bird
We also see Tilly and her mum heading into the garden together and finally finding the bird
This is such a magical book, filled with awe and wonder
A story of finding fun and a whole new world without leaving your own backyard
This book really resonates with me
As we have found a whole new world in our local area these past 12 months
And our garden truly has been the children’s playground
Their place of adventure, exploration and imagination
Their kingdom
It is amazing what children will play
What they will learn
What they will discover and do when left to their own devices for a while
Let them play!
I was sent a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review