Step Gently Out
Age 2+
Picture Books
“A dazzlingly poetic photo album of the insect world for tots on up.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
What would happen if you walked very, very quietly and looked carefully at the natural world outside? You might see a cricket leap, a moth spread her wings, or a spider step across a silken web. In simple, evocative language, Helen Frost hints at the many tiny creatures around us, while in stunning close-up photographs, Rick Lieder captures a katydid's eye, a firefly, and many more living wonders awaiting discovery. Back matter amplifies the descriptions of the insects and spiders in the book.
Creators
Helen Frost is the author of Monarch and Milkweed as well as six novels-in-poems for children and young adults. She lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Rick Lieder is a nature photographer, artist, and book jacket designer. He lives in Michigan.
Reviews
Breathtaking photos and an exquisite poem capture a bug’s-eye view of nature… While Frost’s lightly rhymed declarative verse encourages children to experience the natural world with care and openness to the tiny wonders of insect life around them, Lieder’s richly colored intimate close ups offer every reason why… A dazzlingly poetic photo album of the insect world for tots on up.
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Captivating photography gives readers a closeup view of the world of insects, as described by a gently contemplative poem… The words and images achieve a Zenlike calm that also hints at the complicated web of life unfolding all around.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Nature’s miracles are often small and hard to capture, but in a syncopated harmony of text and image, Frost and Lieder manage to depict tiny moments as seen through a bugs-eye-view of the world… Moving from day to night, the poem makes for a soothing bedtime lullaby that includes a reminder to children about the book’s small creatures: “In song and dance / and stillness, / they share the world / with you.”
Booklist (starred review)
The felicitous pairing of poetry and pictures is enjoyable and useful.
School Library Journal
Q&A with Rick Lieder about Step Gently Out
Observer & Eccentric
Featured/recommended
Youth Services Book Review blog
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Collecting Children's Books blog
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One Book, Two Books, Old Books, New Books blog
Book mention
One Book, Two Books, Old Books, New Books blog
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Waking Brain Cells blog
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Macomb Daily
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Boing Boing
If you like bugs, you’ll love looking at these amazing images.
GeekDad (a Wired blog)
Wired blog review featured
Shelf Awareness
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GottaBook blog
Trailer featured
Andrew Sullivan's The Dish (Daily Beast blog)
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You Know, For Kids blog
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The Missourian
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Reading to Know blog
STEP GENTLY OUT not only fosters a love of poetry but also of the creatures it describes. It shows passage of time and the behavior of some of our most populous occupants of the planet… It is one of those rare picture books where the text, art, and design merge seamlessly together to create a spectacular book.
Anita Silvey's Children's Book-A-Day Almanac
Featured/recommended
Scripps Howard News Service
This beautiful book breaks a rule that picture books should only be illustrated by hand, not photographs.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Orange Marmalade blog
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Imagination Soup
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Teresa's Reading Corner blog
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Spirituality and Practice
Extraordinary close-up photographs of bees, ants, crickets and more, ensuring that we’ll never look at these tiny creatures the same way again.
Huffington Post Parents
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Bookshelf blog
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What is Bridget Reading? blog
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Teach Mentor Texts blog
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100 Scope Notes blog
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Orion Magazine
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Daytona Beach News-Journal
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Rosemary's Reading Circle
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Book Aunt blog
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A Year of Reading blog
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The Styling Librarian blog
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Sal's Fiction Addiction
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The Charlotte Observer
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News & Observer
Mid-year Newbery prediction
A Fuse #8 Production (SLJ blog)
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Easton Patch
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A Life in Books blog
Stunning photography and evocative language encourage children — and their grown-ups — to pause for just a moment to notice the natural world.
The Plain Dealer
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One Book, Two Books, Old Books, New Books blog
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The Kiddosphere blog
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Columbus Dispatch
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California Kids!
You’d be a fool to overlook this book for any reason whatsoever…Steeped in lovely, through and through.
Fuse #8 Production blog
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Humor Me blog
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Good Reads with Ronna
Listed on “Calling Caldecott” blog
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The Heart of a Homemaker blog
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Newton's Book News
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Metro Family
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Asheville Citizen-Times
Listed as a “Top Book of 2012” by Anita Silvey
International Reading Association
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San Francisco Chronicle
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The News-Gazette
Featured/recommended – “worthy of consideration for the Caldecott Medal”
The Bulletin
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Language Arts Poetry Column
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Susanna Leonard Hill (blog)
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Nerdy Book Club (blog)
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Ladue News
