Outside In: Nature Poems

Containing 50 poems inspired by nature, Outside In: Nature Poems is a wonderfully uplifting collection. Daniel Thompson's love of the outdoors and the healing joy of nature shines through each poem. There are poems about the weather, animals, the season… showing all the variety and wonders of the natural world.

There are so many poems to enjoy here. I love 'A Flamboyance of Flamingos', an acrostic spelling 'a collective nouns poem' which cleverly uses those which group creatures to create the poem. Collective nouns are always great fun to explore with children and this poem could lead to them creating their own poems in this style. 'Beautiful Flowers' encapsulates the fabulous variety and ingenuity of the blooms we so often take for granted - but also makes the reader pause and draw parallels with how unique each human is, too.

As might be expected from such a collection, there are poems which reflect upon threats to nature. 'A World Without Bees' focuses on all the 'b's' we would lose - 'big family banquets of bountiful grub', for example whilst 'No Planet B' reminds the reader that we need to take care of planet A - the one which we have.

Some of the poems encourage us to learn about nature without realising!  'The Superhero Squad' draws attention to some of the incredible things animals can do and 'The Great Recycler' explores how ingenious the Earth is at recycling and reusing its resources.

Outside In: Nature Poems is beautifully presented with engaging, attractive illustrations on every page. A brilliant collection for sharing, discussing, performing and using as models to inspire writing; it is also the perfect book to curl up and enjoy alone!

96 pages / Reviewed by Sue Wilsher, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 7+