NATURE PARADE

A child skips, hikes, and tumbles through the myriad sounds of an outdoor afternoon in this debut picture book.

The subject of this tale is not the kid—it is the child’s anthropomorphized red shoes, the “perfect pair for the day,” which carry the White, brown-haired, gender-neutral protagonist through digital paintings of lush natural landscapes. The shoes “hear a song” comprised of the sounds made by whooshing trees, rolling rocks, chirping birds, buzzing bees, snapping grasshoppers, and more. Samuels’ rhyming verse takes readers on an unchaperoned romp that lasts all day until a rainstorm. The child plays in the rain and later sprints home. The angle of most of the images slants downward toward Earth and depicts what the red shoes “see” and “hear,” making for an intriguing view of the natural world. Occasional vistas show unlikely high mountains and idyllic, apparently uninhabited forests. Seasonal signifiers are mixed: There are autumnal brown leaves and grass but also bees alighting on new flowers. Heiduczek’s evocative, lineless pictures with easily named animals and distinctly shaped leaves and plants provide much for young readers to discuss, and satisfying natural noises make for a lively read-aloud.

Nature lovers and advocates of independent learning will find much to love in this tale.