First Picture Nature
By Felicity Brooks; illustrated by Matt Durber and Stephanie Jones
Usborne Books; $11.99
ISBN-13: 978-0794517519

Review by Amy Brozio-Andrews

In a combination picture dictionary, science, and activity book, Usborne's First Picture Nature book offers children a diverse and easily accessible if slightly uneven approach to science. The book maintains a tight focus for children on the world around them, and scenes include the country, bugs and slugs, flowers, trees, a pond, an underwater view of the ocean, and the weather.

Throughout First Picture Nature, the plant and animal elements of each two-page scene are labeled -- daffodil, petal stem, etc. Very basic scientific explanations are offered for various natural phenomena, for example, how a flower grows, or a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, the kinds of questions kids are likely to ask. The text is well-written and easily understandable by young readers. The section on trees and leaves offers a hands-on activity for kids, instructions on how to make leaf shapes in modeling clay, a great activity for learning about shape, texture, color, etc. Unfortunately, it's the only suggested activity in the entire book.

The lack of a unifying theme beyond nature is a weak point too. Pages are devoted to ponds and the birth of frogs, birds and how nested eggs hatch, and then the ocean (just picture dictionary items, no how-to or explanation) and then a split page of the seasons and the weather. To its credit, the book does introduce scientific concepts in a simple fashion that's easy for young readers to understand, like how trees lose their leaves or the differences in the four seasons (the same trees and children are shown four times on one page so kids can note differences in leaves, children's clothing and activities, and weather).

One of the notes, on the flowers page, is curious, telling young readers that the flowers here bloom in the spring or summer but are not seen all together in real life, however there's no similar note on the weather page where rain, snow, sun, lighting, clouds, and wind all share the same sky, or some of the other pages with scenes full of animals that will probably never be seen all together in real life.

The illustrations and models used in the book are very realistic and engaging. Vibrant colors and detailed artwork will definitely appeal to kids. They'll be able to recognize many of the plants, animals, trees, and bugs. The durable board book pages encourage worry-free hands-on reading by young children, and the large, almost 8.5" x 11" size allows for big pictures with lots of detail.

Part of Usborne's series of First Picture board books (First Picture 123, First Picture ABC, First Picture Word Book), First Picture Nature has a lot to recommend it for very young readers; the artwork depicts recognizable scenes, the portions that explain the natural world are accurate and at their most basic level of explanation, and important concepts like weather and changing seasons are presented in a visual way that young readers can begin to understand the ideas. Additional activities beyond the one offered in the section on trees would have been wonderful -- it would have been consistent throughout the book and it would have offered parents additional hands-on learning activities to share with their children. Still, if your young reader is an avid observer of the world around her, Usborne's First Picture Nature could offer many hours of exploration and learning.