The Listening Walk - by Paul Showers
I came by 'The Listening Walk' by Paul Showers a bit of a strange way. I was reading 'Romancing the Ordinary' by Sarah Ban Breathnach, and she talked about a wonderful children's book that helped her to understand the world again after a serious head injury. This is it.
It's a story about a little girl who goes for a walk with her dad and her dog 'Major'. However this walk is not just any old walk, it's a 'listening walk'. During this walk the little girl opens her ears to all the sounds going on around her. She hears everything from the sound of her little dogs nails on the pavement to the bees buzzing in the flowers. The way the sounds are broken down and represented is so perfect that as you say them out loud you will be thinking 'that's exactly the sound that makes!'
This book is the perfect starting point for a listening walk of your own. It encourages children to become quiet and aware so that they can tune into the environment around them. It encourages concentration, thought and appreciation. What did you hear on your 'listening walk?'.
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