OVER AND UNDER THE CANYON – BOOK REVIEW

By Kate Messner with art by Christopher Silas Neal

“High above, Swainson’s hawks soar, circling in the morning blue sky.”

You might have gathered by now that we love the Over and Under series of books, (this is our fourth review!), and Over and Under the Canyon is no exception! It’s a lovely tale about a child and his mother exploring and camping in a desert canyon, and the incredible amount of flora and fauna they find.

As we don’t have desert areas in the UK, the kids were intrigued by all the different creatures that can be found there – they’re in no way the barren landscapes they’re often made out to be! The kids particularly loved the cute little kangaroo rats peeping out from between the rocks, which led us down a fab rabbit-hole of researching them – they’re fascinating creatures! There’s everything from bighorn sheep to cactus wrens mentioned, and the relationship between all the different animals and their surroundings was demonstrated well – it’s clearly a complex ecosystem, and it was a lovely discovery on our part, as we knew so little about it all! (A quick warning though, just in case you have little ones that are scared of spiders – a tarantula is included in the wildlife. It’s a brief mention, and very easy to skip over if needed, fortunately. There’s also a rattlesnake, in case you have snake hating kids too – though the snake does eventually get eaten! Yuck!!!)

As always, the illustrations are just beautiful! There are so many creatures to spot, yet the pictures aren’t “busy” at all, and give a lovely sense of calm. Not to mention, the gorgeous shades of brown and beige, really give you a feel of what a desert canyon is like. And as with previous books, there’s a brilliant glossary at the back, with a short paragraph on each animal mentioned – super helpful if you haven’t heard of them all, like us!

Over and Under the Canyon is a fantastic living book – such a gentle, realistic story, yet so informative, and definitely much needed in our technologically driven, brightly lit world. It would be a brilliant addition to any nature studies project that goes into desert landscapes, and is perfect for Charlotte Mason and Waldorf families. It’s just lovely!!! As we’ve said before, we’ll definitely be keeping our eye out for new books in the series!

Over and Under the Canyon can be found at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Our reviews for Over and Under the Rainforest, Over and Under the Waves, and Over and Under the Pond can be found by clicking the links.

Our copy of Over and Under the Canyon was kindly gifted to us – thank you so much Chronicle and Abrams!