It’s the time of year when people begin counting their blessings and reopening their eyes to how many beautiful things there are in the world to appreciate. The fall air is crisp, Thanksgiving is creeping closer and the natural world is strutting its stuff — which means it’s a great time to sit down with a picture book about the wonders of the world, from a towering mountain to a swirling flock of starlings.
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“I Am the Mountain” by Steven Weinberg: Ages 4-8. Neal Porter Books. $19.99.
Steven Weinberg, a painter and writer who lives in the Catskills, has a way with swirling sunrises, roiling streams and windswept scenes. In “I Am the Mountain” — narrated by the mountain itself — readers are invited not just to look at the scenery but to experience it with all of their senses: the chill of a winter shadow, the smell of spring mud, the sound of a summer breeze rustling the grass, the taste of fall’s apples.
Some pages are looming mountain vistas, and others are the tiny, beautiful details of nature — mushrooms, acorns, blossoms. All of them capture the awe of truly experiencing a piece of the wild.
“I am the mountain. I am rocks. I am old. I am wise. I am dirt,” the mountain reminds readers at the end. “I can’t see you, but now you can see me.”
As a writer and painter who lives in the Catskills, Steven Weinberg gets to immerse himself in his subject and create books like his newest, “I Am the Mountain.” (Courtesy/Neal Porter Books)
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“We Are the Keystones: Animals That Hold Habitats Together” by Katy S. Duffield, illustrated by Hannah Salyer: Ages 4-8. Beach Lane Books. $19.99.
This exploration of species that play a pivotal role in their “nature-hoods” includes poems about each crucial creature, plus a mini-biography of each, exploring how they “help themself — help others too — just by doing what they do.” There are the usual suspects, such as beavers, who remake wetlands and create habitats for a multitude of water-lovers from salamanders to otters, as well as less-known ecosystem stars like the fruit-gobbling cassowary.
The gorgeously colored illustrations and odes to each creature make it clear how intertwined the natural world is and how closely connected to it we are as well.
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“The Path” by Pamela Paul, illustrated by Qin Leng: Ages 4-8. G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers. $19.99.
It’s an ordinary day, in an ordinary place: the path through a park, packed with strollers, bikers and skaters. Or is it?
“This is the perfect path!” one child crows, playing hide-and-seek. But then bicyclists pedal by, a very loud baby in a stroller screams through, and skaters zigzag and twirl. All the different people doing different things share the path uneasily, until something makes them all stop and look up: a murmuration of starlings, twisting like smoke through the sky.
Brought together by the shared experience, the people find a way to keep on sharing their experiences — a bird watcher points out an owl to passing children, a bystander jumps in to help a dog walker with tangled leashes — and find that their trip down the path is even better for it.
An ode to the everyday beauty of outdoor spaces, “The Path” is also a tribute to what people gain by appreciating these spaces together.
Caroline Luzzatto has taught preschool and fourth grade. Reach her at