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Read and Play: "Inside Outside"

One sign of a great kid’s book? It inspires ideas, games, and activities that make the story come to life.

Learning Benefits

Hover over each Learning Benefit below for a detailed explanation.
Reading Comprehension

Inside Outside
by Lizi Boyd

Follow a boy and his pets as they play indoors and out during the four seasons. Printed on high-quality paper with cut-out windows that offer sneak peeks, the wordless story is packed with details (find the mice!). We love that kids can create a new tale with each read. See what else they can do! Chronicle, $16. Ages 2 to 6.

1. Write your words.
Together, craft your own text for Inside Outside. What’s the boy’s name? His furry friends? Will your version rhyme or use spare prose? What story will you tell about the boy’s activities?

2. Document the seasons.
Take photos or make drawings inside and outside your own house at different times of the year and compare. What changes? Which indoor clues tell us what season it is?

3. Bring the outside in.
Grow herbs without the complications of a garden. Try the Chia Gourmet Herb Garden (Chia, $23) or the DuneCraft Culinary Herb Garden (DuneCraft, $25). Use your basil to make pesto!

4. Bring the inside out.
On a warm spring day, grab old sheets and towels and cardboard boxes, and build a fort in the backyard. Snuggle up inside and read another outside book: The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger.

Rachael Taaffe is the copy editor for Scholastic Parent & Child.


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