Alison Farrell

The love of nature and wondrous adventure of hiking blossoms on every page, and wakes the desire to head out doors.

The joy of hiking breaks free with a sense of fun, friendship, exploration and adventure. Three girls and their dog head out into the great outdoors and see what nature has to offer—everything from plants to insects to features and wildlife. Each page offers a vibrant scene, packed full of life. There's a short phrase, which adds to the atmosphere, but it's the illustrations which keep the pages turning.

While hiking and everything it entails will have young listeners wanting to hit the paths themselves, this book is more about the immense variety of life nature has to offer. Each page carries more than a couple examples of various animals, insects and plants. Each one is depicted in the natural scene with its name. To help learn more about these, there's a cute form of glossary—written just like the girls might do in their own notebooks—with more tidbits. It's a great way to teach kids about nature and is sure to grab interest.

I was a bit disappointed that the areas where various plants and such are found is never mentioned or pointed out. While the illustrations hint that it covers a wide range (forests to mountain tops), it'd help young readers/listeners to know exactly what they might keep an eye out for in their own areas when they go hiking. On another note, the glossary does mention that several plants are edible...which is simply dangerous, since the illustrations are not exact and kids really might go out and think they see one of the mentioned plants and try 'cooking' it or eating it themselves. Mine would if not warned.

All in all, I loved this book. It's a great way to get kids interested in heading out and discovering nature on their own. I received a complimentary copy and found it such a wonderful way to get young readers interested in heading out into nature that I wanted to leave my honest thoughts.… (mer)

Etta Elephant visits her Aunt Ellen in Cycle City just in time for the big Starlight Parade, in which all the various animal residents promenade in their diverse cycles. As Mayor Snail hunts down the various attendees who have not yet received their invitation, and the Parade Committee realize they haven't named a Grand Marshall, Etta and Aunt Ella spend a happy day getting ready. Eventually, it is Ella herself who is chosen to lead the parade...

An entertaining search-and-find book, as well as an engaging picture-book tribute to cycles of all kinds, Cycle City provides the child reader/listener with the opportunity of poring over its detailed illustrations. The text on each two-page spread invites the reader to search out various animals, in the busy scenes depicted in the watercolor artwork. This is a debut for author/artist Alison Farrell, and it is certainly an auspicious one! I'm not always fond of search-and-find books, mostly because my eyes tend to get tired, but I found this one quite charming. Recommended to young cyclists, and to anyone looking for picture-books featuring search-and-find elements.… (mer)