Walking to notice

The best way to explore the world is to go for a walk. You can’t hear the croak of a frog, or see a robin’s nest, or yes, stop and smell the roses if you are hurtling through space at 55 miles per hour on the highway. You can’t notice things, and noticing things is what young children love to do. Adults are often in a hurry, but when you are traveling with someone who has shorter legs than you, you can’t help but notice things too. Wonderful things.

Here are some picture books that celebrate the joys of walking and noticing.

In tiny, perfect things by M. H. Clark, we go on a short walk around the neighborhood with a girl and her grandfather, and see so many, well, tiny perfect things; like a snail, a spider’s web, and a flower growing in a crack in the sidewalk. The grandfather leads the way, pointing out various interesting items to notice, including a neighbor to wave hello to and their shadows that are holding hands. Such a sweet way to show two family members sharing a bonding moment. The illustrations by Madeline Kloepper zoom around to show different perspectives that allow the reader to see other tiny perfect things. The last pages open up to a four page spread that invites the reader to do just that:

The world is full of perfect things when you come look with me.

Good advice for both walks in the world and the books written about them.

In Sidewalk Flowers by Jon Arno Lawson and illustrated by Sydney Smith, we meet another family duo out for a walk. This time it is a father with his daughter, but here the girl does all of the noticing on her own. While the distracted father talks on his phone or walks with the purpose of most adults just trying to get from point A to point B, the red hooded girl notices beautiful flowers growing in the most unlikely parts of an urban neighborhood. Each flower becomes a gift to someone along the way, from a dog, to a homeless man, to her siblings back home at the end of her journey. This is a wordless picture book, and the drawings reminiscent of a graphic novel say everything clearly and poignantly. But then, some of the best walks are often wordless. The better to notice things.

Here’s another walk around an urban neighborhood. In Windows by Julia Denos, it is twilight in autumn, and a young boy, (also in a red hooded coat) and his dog leave their house and walk around the place they call home. What he notices is the “windows lit up like eyes in the dusk”, and the lives of the people inside. He sees neighbors having dinner, playing the piano, and having a party. Who among us hasn’t peeked in the windows of strangers and wondered about the lives of the people within? Even the windows that are dark or have the curtains drawn are intriguing. Maybe more so. At the end of their walk, the boy and his dog see their own warmly lighted window, where “someone you love is waving at you, and you can’t wait to go in.” The illustrations by E. B. Goodale really capture the light of the approaching night, as well as the neighborhood she lives in, in Somerville, Massachusetts. Living only a couple of towns away, I recognize so much, yet it feels like it could take place anywhere with lots of windows. The cover describes the book as “about the idea of home and the magic of curiosity, but also about the sense of safety, love, and belonging to which every child is entitled.” A perfect description of a lovely book.

I couldn’t resist putting in this older book about walking and noticing both the little things and the big picture. In Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by D. B. Johnson, the walk is a lot longer. Thirty miles, to be exact. Based on a passage from Thoreau’s Walden, it tells the story of two friends who agree to see the country but choose different ways of getting there. Henry decides to walk from Concord, while his friend will work a bunch of odd jobs to pay for a train ticket to get there. While the friend is pulling weeds and painting fences, Henry is pressing wildflowers into a book and climbing trees. He is not just noticing things, he is apreciating them. When his friend finally earns enough for his ticket, he has to race to the station to make the crowded train. Meanwhile, Henry is cooling off in a pond and picking blackberries. In the end, his friend gets to the country faster, but it is Henry who has clearly had a better day. A great story about seeing not just the beauty of the natural world on a hike, but seeing a philosophy of life. In a world where work and productivity are often held up as the ultimate goal, it is good to see Thoreau’s almost subversive message of simply enjoying life. It helps that the characters are bears dressed in nineteenth century clothes.

So get outside with a young friend and go notice things. Then stop off at the library on the way back and check out some books. To notice more things.