Member Reviews
I love I Hear Nature! Can I see myself using this in my baby and toddler storytimes to encourage predicting skills and further connect them to the sounds of nature. The illustrations are wonderful and I love how they are interactive and offer a hint of the answer.
While reading mentor texts in our classrooms, my colleagues and I ask our students to create visual images in their mind as they go along. In Clay Hadden's "I Hear Nature" not only do the words pair with beautiful illustrations of a boy and his dog walking through nature, but they really allow that visualization to take place for young readers. I also really appreciate the "Reading Tips" on the first few pages which reinforce how this text can be helpful to classroom communities. I could see this book be used as an introduction to a lesson to start the students thinking about the sounds they might hear or the creatures they might see as they extend their classroom environment into the natural world around them. I would recommend this book for classrooms PK - 1st grade classrooms.
1. My point of view
This is a very fun interactive book for toddlers. However, I would have liked to see better illustrations used for the exact same story.
2. Four-year-old daughter's point of view
I asked my daughter to close her eyes while I read the sounds and guess what she heard. She had lots of fun with this book.
I would rate I Hear Nature by Clay Hadden 4 out of 5.
This adorable flap book uses predictive text, simple sound words and colorful pictures to introduce kids to the idea of listening for sounds instead of just looking at things. The book begins with reader tips to help adults teach beginning literacy skills to their little ones. It encourages the parent to use appropriate pitch or volume to go along with the sound, and to ask their little ones to predict what might be making the sound. This book is not only great entertainment for little ones but a great help to young parents to teach them how to share a book interactively.
If going on a Bear Hunt was more mentally appropriate for toddlers. This teaches great prediction, language, and interaction with nature skills. I could definitely see myself with a "I Hear Nature" kit where the sounds can be replicated inside, with technology, or outdoors where it can be fully immersible.
A lovely little book, especially for smaller children. The flaps give chance for children to think and consider what the noises could be. Easily transferred to an outdoor activity, repeating what is said in the book on your walk as your child guesses. Enjoyed the illustrations too
This book is adorable! I love the illustrations and how interactive it is.
The readers tips for parents/adults is really refreshing and will encourage adults to be interactive and engaged with the different sounds and types of animals the story features.
I really enjoy how this book promotes grounding and mindfulness techniques in a nature perspective and will give early readers a love for the beauty of the outdoors.
I requested this book to review as a potential read before taking my classes outside for a senses walk outside. This is a very simple book that demonstrates sensory feedback through both illustrations as well as written word. This would be great for teaching about senses, nature, or even active listening. I will definitely be purchasing this for my classroom!
Simple listening observations linked to their sources through physical discovery involving book flaps.
While I love the concept of this book, the illustrations felt mock-child-like, which I found distracting. I did enjoy the very clear process of hearing, exploring and then identifying the sources of sounds in nature. That process was fun and easy to repeat.
This was so adorable! Such cute illustrations and the flaps will make for such a great teaching sensory method for kids! I appreciated the beginning intro for the adults to give tips on how to get the best effects out of the book!
This is a perfect book to read out loud while acting it out. There are so many great sounds, and opportunities to talk about how we write different sounds. This is perfect for early science education. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this
A short picture book with beautiful and relaxing illustrations that takes you through nature through the eyes or rather ears of a child. Was a great wind down read for nap/bedtime
This is an awesome, nature-themed book to help kids learn their sounds and familiarize themselves with the sense of hearing. The tips for educators/parents/guardians at the beginning of the book is what makes this book perfect. This allows kids to learn even better *and* spend quality time with their adults. Lastly, the illustrations were very colorful, yet still simple. This perfect balance worked really well, as it keeps readers engaged while at the same time allowing them to give most of their attention to the onomatopoeias.
Perfect and educational book for little ones; bravo!
First, I'd like to extend a big thank you to the author, Clay Hadden, the illustrator, Audre Schmid, the publisher, Ninewise Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this children's picture book, I Hear Nature. This adorable kid's book guides children through the sights, sounds, smells, etc. of a nature walk. These sensory experiences ensure the learning remains in their little minds long after the trip. The cover is very cute, with butterflies and trees and a background of nature that gives a great tone for the overall walk. Even though I didn't get to check out the flaps since I read this in digital form, I am sure kids would enjoy that interactive nature of the story. I like the watercolor-y style which will really appeal to younger children along with the sensory style of the story. I would recommend this book for kids aged 0-4 who are going on a nature walk or who like nature, animals, insects. This would make a great book for classrooms and circle time for getting out energy for small children. This book is super cute! :)
Nothing about this book really stood out to me. The illustrations were colorful, but the style was a little sloppy, and the story wasn’t very exciting. But kids will absolutely enjoy lifting the flaps, and the story is simple enough that it won’t bother parents to read it over and over again.
My daughter loves nature and animals, this book was perfect for her age group with the option to lift the flaps and learn about things that interest her. We are learning new words and the illustrations were wonderful
Lovely book with cute watercolor illustrations. My child and I like reading interactive books together, and this one did the job. The paper version will be even more enjoyable.
I would've prefered a more homogenous text (meaning : "I hear the wind blowing / the birds singing" ... and then "the frogs croaking" instead of "talking"), but it isn't that big of a deal.
Thank you NetGalley and Ninewise Publishing for providing this e-arc for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
The artwork is clear and displays well on my (color) eink device.
As we walk through the woods we hear many different sounds. This book has a good level of repetition and with colorful illustrations it's great for keeping attention. This would be fun to read before going for a walk as it's easy to continue the discussion of sounds.
This book feels like a great fit for an early reader (young toddler) with lots of points to talk about your senses and engage them in the subject matter. I like that it draws on a lot of what they can see in their regular lives and that there’s an opportunity for interaction and discussion. It was great fun!
4 stars
This is a great book - I think it will be so effective for children to respond to sounds and engage with words, while being completely engrossed in the story, and wanting to turn the pages to find out what is hearing the sound.
I hope the book will be published as a paper copy in addition to the kindle copy, as I would definitely buy that to use with some of the young children that I work with.
I really like that this book is designed to help children with speech difficulties, as there are not a lot of books that are available to do that (which I have seen). I really welcome this new book which I am sure children will love.