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A review by mat_tobin
Outside in by Deborah Underwood
5.0
What a beautiful picturebook. I have read a lot of stories now that touch upon nature-deficit disorder and the loss children suffer when separated from the natural world and its denizens but this is beautifully done and still brings a sense of freshness to the telling through both Underwood's slim narrative and Derby's gorgeous washes of colour and use of perspective.
Told over the shoulder of a young girl (although perspective can shift with the outside looking in at times), this is an ode to what we have lost in staying indoors or journeying by car. It is the language of the outdoors that Underwood champions here 'sunbaked smells' tempt us as does it 'chirps' and 'rustles' too. The colours and sounds of the outside are always there waiting and often find ways of creeping into our homes too.
This is a gentle invitation to remember to step outside whilst standing a distance away from any saccharine literature that can romanticise the natural world.
Told over the shoulder of a young girl (although perspective can shift with the outside looking in at times), this is an ode to what we have lost in staying indoors or journeying by car. It is the language of the outdoors that Underwood champions here 'sunbaked smells' tempt us as does it 'chirps' and 'rustles' too. The colours and sounds of the outside are always there waiting and often find ways of creeping into our homes too.
This is a gentle invitation to remember to step outside whilst standing a distance away from any saccharine literature that can romanticise the natural world.