Nature and Me: A Guide to the Joys and Excitements of the Outdoors is a book by the School of Life. It’s more than a nature book, it’s a discussion on how to make sense of big feelings through the connection to nature. Life is short, the giant redwood teaches us. There is value in the emptiness of the desert, because we can draw parallels with decluttering our minds to focus on things that are truly important.
The book uses the landscape, creatures and the environment to link a child’s sense of the world to emotions with the intention to create a better understanding both of the world and also our place in the world.
I’m not sure that this book is something I could use in a forest school setting because the nature isn’t creatures we’d naturally find in our woodland - we don’t have scorpions and leopard sharks - but there are pieces that would work, like the sections on clouds, stars and hedgehogs.
Each section is totally standalone, so you could pick the pieces that were relevant, either to the environmental aspect you wanted to highlight with the child, or an animal they were interested in, or choose the section closest to the feeling a child was struggling with, whether that’s feeling overwhelmed, grumpy or needing to better understand the adults in their lives.
I enjoyed reading it, it has a gentle, accessible tone that would make good bedtime stories. The concept is unusual and it’s a different kind of book to what I have seen before. I found the links between animal behaviour and our own emotions fascinating.
The pieces have been cleverly written to draw parallels where previously you might not have been able to see any.
The book is beautifully illustrated too, with bright colours and bold drawings on each double page spread.

This review first appeared on The Practical Forest School blog: https://thepracticalforestschool.com/nature-and-me-book-review/
I was given an advance reader copy via Netgalley

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Nature and Me is a beautiful book for children aged 8+ that is way more than you expect from the cover! I loved how this book connects the benefits of nature to our physical and mental health. So many children these days are glued to their tablets and phones and this book encourages them and grown-ups to get out in nature and enjoy their inner child!
The book covers numerous different subjects such as; imagination, exploring nature, feelings and making the most of life (as its only short)and getting the best from it, to name but a few.
There's so much to see, learn and get from this book and even I learned some things I didn't know and had my memory jogged about some things I had forgotten.
I loved the illustrations and snippets of information and facts throughout the book.

This cute little book is a fun and educational read for children. I really enjoyed the graphic design of the book and I loved the simplicity of the illustrations. The text itself fell a bit short for me. It is interesting, rather than dry or bland, however, I wasn't very impressed by the literacy value of it. That being said, I think it is still a cute little book that most children would enjoy.

Children are used to hearing about how important it is to protect nature, but they may not fully understand how the natural world can positively impact their emotional wellbeing. With that in mind, this book looks to enhance this time spent outside and show children how nature can be fun, uplifting, consoling, and even offer companionship.

This is really cute and contains great lessons. The art work is gorgeous and bright. I think there are wonderful messages within the story about life, nature. It’s inspirational and brilliant. I loved the examples used to teach different life lessons.

A heartwarming and informative read. Each set of pages features simple, stylish artworks paired with science facts about different types of flora and fauna as well as a kid-friendly mindfulness message. The design and layout is brilliant! I want this for my coffee table now... The vibrant colors and peaceful points make for a very hygge gem of a book. I felt smarter and got warm fuzzies reading this.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This is a really interesting book about nature and things in the natural world and feelings. If you are feeling lonely or sad, go for a walk.

A charming book to help a young person learn about nature and themselves and appreciate both too.

It was an interesting read with pictures that fit well.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

This book really wasn't what I expected in a great way! Initially, looking at the cover I'd imagined it to be a book for much younger children. However, it's a book I'd recommend for primary juniors upwards. It's such a clever book that links the benefits of exploring the outdoor world and our mental health.

As an adult I thoroughly enjoyed this book. You get snippets of information about various flora and fauna in the natural world. For each there is a double spread where the specific item for example a hedgehog or a giant redwood tree is personified to help us understand a particular aspect of our body and/ or mind. The book also gives you thoughts to ponder upon and helps you think about dealing with situations in different ways.

A brilliant book, very unique!

Thank you #TheSchoolOfLife and #Netgalley for an eARC

An interesting book that looks at different things from nature and how you can use them to help make better choices in your own ways of thinking and behaving.

How we can be more calm and focused or worry less about the things we can not change.

The book also contains interesting facts making it engaging for the reader. Sort of a cross between facts and self help. The layout of each page is slightly different, organised to work around the illustrations or fit in with the theme of the page.

A good choice for adding variety to your bookshelves and giving children the chance to explore and think for themselves.

This book explains Nature in a humourous and informative way, whilst linking it to everyday life. It was delightful to read and would be an excellent resource as a book in schools and nurseries.

I liked the idea of the book but it didn’t come across so well. Felt it was trying to be too many things

For the first time I agree with the blurb. This book is interesting, inspirational, informative and teaches respect to natural world. Stunning illustrations and easy to follow text is a dream of every parent. I make sure to have a paper copy in my classroom.
Heads up: papercopy only, on kindle it just doesn´t look good, small print made my eyes sore.

I'm a huge fan of The School of Life and Nature and Me did not disappoint! I think kids will be interested in reading this but I also think it's a great resource for teachers, librarians, and parents to engage with children. I loved the suggestions and think this book is a gift to both adults and children.

Nature and Me is quite different to any children's book I've read before. I love the way it speaks directly to children without being condescending but seems to see things from their point of view.

Taking life lessons from nature is a powerful concept and there are plenty of touching moments which I enjoyed sharing with my daughter who is nearly five. She especially liked the parts that talked about parents and what they can be like. It was almost like she was getting a behind the scenes peak, and she said that other people's parents must be like hers too.

There's plenty of comfort to be found here but I personally found some of the messages to be on the negative side, and I would also play down some of the existential talk if reading this with my kids. I think it's great to be open about the fact we are all mortal, but I wouldn't be keen to emphasise the shortness of life to a child. A more positive spin on this might be that they will live for their forever.

On the whole though a beautiful book with much to be treasured and shared.

This is a lovely book to share with pupils. It isn’t about nature in the way you might expect. Instead it is about considering different things in nature can put other things in perspective. For example encouraging children to see the pleasure in watching clouds, or appreciating home and carrying it in your head just like a snail carries his home. Another lovely example is the distance of a star and how small that makes us all.
It is a lovely book that would be good for children 7 and over.

I loved this - it was incredibly informative and was expertly written. The cover was nice and bright which made me want to read it & i am glad i did!

Wow this is simply beautiful. I really loved the colourful pages, illustrations and text. I found as an adult this book was full of information about the world around us, teaching me about things I'd not know much about. I think this would be even more beautiful in the flesh. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.

As a teacher, I think this would make a wonderful resource for my classroom. It is a book stuffed full of facts and unique ways of looking at trees. Did you know this tree takes this long to grow? 2 years would go so fast. What would you think about this? It displays facts about nature in a unique way with beautiful illustrations and offers children a different approach to considering nature. Each page offers opportunity for reflection and mindfulness with lots of talking points for whole class discussions (or discussions with your child before bedtime).

I adored this one! This is a gorgeously illustrated and informative children's book packed full of facts about nature and the outdoors. It was a super fun read, even as an adult with no kids. I felt like I allowed my inner child to come out and play while reading this one. I read a lot of heavy nonfiction, and lead a pretty stressful life filled with looming deadlines and anxiety, so it was nice to take a break from all that to indulge in this book. It felt like a breath of fresh air.

This book sheds light on all the playful and exciting things waiting just outside your door. In a world where kids (actually, all of us) are glued to iPhones and video games, and are influenced by what we see online and how that might make us feel, this book felt like an important read and served as a reminder of the way that nature can make us feel as human beings. Nature and Me dives deep into why these feelings matter and how they can help in your kid’s (or your) life.

The book covers things like: understanding what’s scary, making the most of your short life, imagination, and how a change of lens can be good for you. All of these topics are compared to relatable things in nature, like the leopard shark, the 1000-year-old giant redwood tree in California, the sunshine, and a cloud in the sky.

I learned a lot from this little book. Many things about nature that I didn’t know, and things that I can also benefit from as a fully grown adult. It was actually fascinating to learn facts about the animals, the stars, and the sun, and what these elements of nature can teach us.

The writing in Nature and Me is lovely, the facts are concise, and the book is highly readable for kids aged eight and up. Each section is accompanied by a beautifully drawn illustration.

All in all, this is a fantastic kids book, and fun for the adults too.