France Books

I read "According to Mark" with special interest as it is a novel about a man writing a biography-- and I am myself writing a biography. Penelope Lively raises all sorts of interesting issues such as: Can the subject change the course of the biographer's life? Does the past still exist? This is the eighth novel I've read by Lively, and she does not disappoint.I highly recommend this novel by this intelligent, amusing and, yes, lively writer!

Penelope Lively has been short listed for the Booker prize for this novel, "According To Mark". It is a story with a subtle message and with deeply developed characters. As with all of Penelope Lively's novels we become involved with and learn to care for these people.

Mark Lamming is writing a biography of author, Gilbert Strong. As part of his work he is invited to Gilbert Strong's home to interview Mr. Strong's granddaughter, Carrie. In the course of this interview he finds that Mr. Strong left two old trunks full of personal papers and correspondence. He also finds a strong attraction to Carrie. This, of it-self, is not a bad thing, except Mark is married to Diane. Diane the driven and sometimes overbearing woman, but who loves Mark deeply. Mark finds himself drawn to Carrie and to the house. He drives from London to the house at least once a week and often stays overnight. In the course of this time he falls in love with Carrie. Carrie is an immature young woman with not much of an ego. She was brought up by an often absent and self-centered mother, and Carrie left home as soon as she could. Carrie appears oblivious to Mark's attraction. She is involved with her gardening business, and she finds her life is all involved in her work.

At one point, Mark believes that interviewing Carrie's mother would be beneficial in examining the life of Gilbert Strong. He invites Carrie to go along on the journey. During the journey the inevitable happens and they make love. Mark is ecstatic, but he also loves his wife. What a quandary. His wife, Diane is a brilliant and intuitive woman and knows something is going on. She makes plans to join Carrie and Mark on the return journey. The journey back to England is an interesting one, and a part of the novel that deserves full attention. Carrie leaves Mark and Diane and goes on her own adventure. Mark finds another person who knows Gilbert Strong, and finds new information that strengthens his feel for the mysterious person. Do the lives of everyone involved resolve to their normal status or do new adventures befall each of them? Penelope Lively often leads us down a path we least expect.

Penelope Lively is a favorite author, and she never disappoints. This book is full of energy and life. We go inside the minds of the characters, and are able to understand their thoughts and actions. This story grabs us. It is an unusual triangle and written with such wit and grace. Highly recommended prisrob

I am sorry that this one is out of print and hope that it will be reissued soon! I think this is one of the great Penelope Lively's finest novels. It's a page-turner, a skillful interweaving of infidelity, the English countryside, travels abroad, meditations on the writing of history and books, and realistic observations of such foibles as romantic delusion and academic pompousness. Ultimately it is a forgiving tale. I couldn't relate to any one particular character but felt I recognized them all.

I bought several courses. The cards offer basic concepts in small bites. The information was relevant to what was presented by my teacher. The cards and CD's gave good review before exams and a head start at the start of the new school year. The cards had a lot of questions; you can carry them in your pocket and learn a few each day. The software was easy to use. It is like the cards but on the screen. You can take a test or just review. Front is question, click for answer on back of card. The software can also show the cards on the screen at random, first the question, then the answer. They change every few seconds. That keeps you reading and wondering what's coming up next. It's entertaining while you're studying.

Every year I recommend them to my students. The ones who buy them seem to do a little better than they might have. The cards are numbered, so it's easy to tell them which ones they need to know, and which they can set aside based on the curriculum. It's harder to accomplish that type of culling of information with a review book you'd buy at the superstore.

I purchased several courses. The cards offer basic concepts in small increments. The information was relevant to what was presented by my teacher.

Two important guides to weight and eating are presented in these excellent surveys by Frances Berg. Children And Teens Afraid To Eat (0-918532-55-8, ...) examines six major eating and weight problems, from undernutrition of teens to eating disorders and obesity, blending statistics with a survey of underlying social causes and the actions which need to be taken to help teens. Women Afraid To Eat (62-0, ....) documents the physical and psychological harm done by social images which focus on the detriments of eating. From fad diets to weight prejudices, this tells women how to break free of weight obsession.

Without a doubt, this book should be reading material for all parents before their first child is born.

We want to think our youth are active and healthy. During my years of teaching, I have been more and more disturbed at inactivity of our children, disruption of normal eating, and the amount of fat and sugar calories served in school lunch rooms.

The food the children who carry their lunch bring from home can be nourishing, but parents might be surprised if they watch their children eat. A child's lunch sack might have a good turkey sandwich with greens, two large cookies, a bar of candy, and a soft drink. The child almost always has the candy ond/or cookies at recess. When lunchtime comes, he often throws that good sandwich in the trash with the apple. The food he brought from home has now become two cookies, candy, and a soft drink.

During recess too many children are inactive. Day after day, we watched the same ones stand around talking all recess while they eat their candy or cookies. After observing this for a few years, we scheduled a quarter-mile run twice a week and a full mile on Friday for P. E. Also, three times a week we have exercises appropriate to the age groups. You'd be surprised how many look forward to all the activity once they get used to it. We think it also stimulates brain activity in the classroom.

On the other hand, there are the healthy, active children who might have a cookie at recess, then play hard. They eat their sandwich and apple at lunch and the cookies and are eaten or saved for after school. In these children's lunch boxes there is porbably no candy. What's happening here? Berg says studies show that parents that don't "bug" their children about eating, produce children who don't have hang-ups about eating.

Berg writes that research shows that family attitudes can play a big part in the future eating patterns of their children. When a healthy baby's hunger is satisfied, it will then stop drinking. Parents who "urge him to finish the bottle, disguise cereal with applesauce to get it down" and thus feel frustrated for fear the baby isn't eating enough, is teaching the infant that it's important to eat more than his body needs. All parents should read carefully and think about what Berg has to say.

A parent who "hesitates to let a chubby toddler have seconds, makes a preschooler stay at the table until she finishes her peas, insists that the child eat `two bites of each food,' or lectures a school-age child to get him to drink his milk...is overmanaging, and it teaches children to ignore their natural signals of hunger and satiety."

By allowing a child to listen and heed these natural signals, Berg tells us that this is an important way to begin the youngster on a lifetime of healthy eating patterns.

Americans serve too large portions. A friend of mine returned from a long vacation in England and remarked that she didn't see an overweight English person all the time she was there. I said I was surprised, I always thought Britons were gluttons. She said she did, too, but she didn't see any.

Berg tells why. "A Healthy Weight Journal subscriber in London sent me an article titled: `Portions all out of Proportion' that decried `America's elephantine cuisine.' The writer compares national foods: hot dogs (350 calories in the U.S. versus 150 calories in Britain), cookies (493 vs. 65), ice cream cone (625 vs.160), muffin (705 vs. 158), and a meal of steak and fries (2,060 vs. 730). Until recently, our very large muffins were called "jumbo muffins," the article notes, now they are simply `muffins.' " Apparently, we are the ones who have become the nation of gluttons.

Berg says that even some our food that is considered healthy, non-junk food is astoundingly high in calories. And the more a child above the age of 3 is served, the more he eats. Big portions promote over-eating. Berg says studies show that our school-age children are getting heavier every year. Younger and younger children are becoming anorexic to stay slim, an astounding number alternately diet and binge. These patterns used to be found among those high school age and older, now they appear among elementary children.

Berg says problems such as eating disorders, dysfunctional eating, undernutrition of teenage girls trying to be thin, hazardous weight loss, and size prejudice all are increasing. Surprisingly, all that can be prevented. The author, Francie Berg, when asked why she wrote this book, says she grows more and more concerned about the appalling research on children and youth eating problems. The true facts were there, but no one was telling those who need to know: our parents and teachers.

Now that she's telling us-we need to listen.

Berg's research is well done. Anyone who doubts what she writes, can read the studies for themselves as her sources are well documented.

Jeanie T.

To be overweight is to fail" . It sums up our society's attitude towards eating and body size today. This is a quote from 'AFRAID TO EAT: Children and Teens in Weight Crisis' by Frances M. Berg. While the book is a cultural commentary, it is also filled with practical advice on ways to prevent eating disorders, obesity, and dysfunctional eating.

The first step to help, is to help understand the roots of the problem. This book does that. It points out the many ways in which we are not nurturing our children, particularly our girls. We are a society that has become fatter and fatter, yet simultaneously bombards our kids with the message that they need to achieve a body size and shape that is biologically unsustainable for the majority of them. This may be the seed for eating disorders. How high levels of obesity and disordered eating and starving teens can coexist is explained. AFRAID TO EAT explores the many forces at play....cultural expectations, media, the role of family and athletics, peer pressure, and more. It explores the issue of size rejudice and lifestyle choices, both of which lead to eating disorders and obesity.

The second half of the book focuses on how to prevent eating disorders, how to make changes to promote normal eating where it doesn't exist, and how to intervene with childhood obesity. There are guidelines for healthy food choices, designs for new health approaches for families, how to include schools in prevention programs, and finally a call to action that challenges us to make changes in attitude (e.g. a greater appreciation for healthy lifestyles versus being thin), lifestyle (e.g. active living, improving phys ed programs in school), prevention (e.g. by promoting healthy attitudes and lifestyles and developing special prevention programs for schools and communities), health care (e.g. reduce size prejudice in health care, focus on improving health, not on ineffective weight loss) and knowledge ( e.g. improved communication to consumers, better education in medical school).

There is useful information in this book not only for a parent, but also for teachers and health care workers. Perhaps after reading it you can share it with your school nurse or phys ed teacher. I am sure you will find its approach not only informative but practical and useful. The word 'vitality' is used a lot in this book as it helps us focus eating away from dieting and size/shape obsession towards eating that promotes a healthy and 'vital' lifestyle.

I work as a professional nutritionist and see firsthand the consequences of the fear of eating. This book takes a big stab at addressing the revolutionary changes that need to be made in our personal and societal approaches towards eating. I recommend it to any who want to join in that revolution, or simply wish to help their own kids enjoy nutritious, guilt free eating for life.

The authors of "After Moruroa - France in the South Pacific" have done a brilliant job in relating France's colonial history in the South Pacific to its global and economic interests in the region today. And it is Maclellan and Chesneaux's ability to weave between past and present which makes this book such an engaging read....After Moruroa is an important book containing a vast amount of material... from review in Race and Class (UK), January-March 2000

"Nic Maclellan and Jean Chesneaux have produced After Moruroa, an enlightening history, analysis and interpretation of French thinking about the Pacific - made all the more valuable by its publication just before the referendum [in New Caledonia] in November" excerpt from review in Islands Business, October 1998

This is an excellent and readable summary of the French presence in the South Pacific, stretching from the days of Bougainville and the "discovery", to present day - and into the future. The situation in French Polynesia and New Caledonia is made understandable, whereas the somewhat forgotten islands of Wallis and Futuna are more briefly treated. This book allows the reader to understand what is specific about French colonialism, from cultural as well as historical and political aspects.

Corsi's book made me change the way I teach the history of evolutionary theory. I had accepted the Darwin-centric account, which says that modern theory begins with Charles Lyell and Darwin. Yes, Lamarck originated `transmutation' of species thinking and Cuvier was an outstanding paleontologist. But Lamarckian inheritance doesn't work and Cuvier was a bitter opponent of evolution.

Thanks to Corsi's painstaking research we know that English evolutionary thought was time-lagged about a half century behind the French. The uniformitarianism vs catastrophism interpretation of earth history, which I had thought was due primarily to Lyell, was intensively debated by French geologists by 1800. The geologist Philippe Bertrand, proposed, in 1797, the marine origin of life and gradual evolution of all organic forms. Terrestrial plants and animals are descended from original marine species. Julien-Joseph Virey proposed (1816) that the term `evolution' be used to denote the transmutation of species. `It is thus plausible that, thanks to such evolution, nature has risen from the most tenuous mold to the majestic cedar, to the gigantic pine, just as it has advanced from microscopic animals up to man, king and dominator of all beings.' In his Histoire naturelle du genre humain (1800) he stated the principle of sexual selection, which assured the optimum adaptive state through elimination of the weaker: "Nature resembles the law of Sparta, which let weak and sickly babies die, but took extreme care of strong, muscular individuals. Thus it is that women submit more easily to the most ardent males, seek the strongest ones, prefer the most untamable." We seem to hear Darwin speaking when Virey writes: "Nature initially produced only one very simple plant and one very simple animal, which it then varied to infinity, with gradual increases in complexity, to produce the most consummate species." The geologist Louis-Constant Prévost proposed that the evolutionary descent of each organism might one day be traced from the fossil record, from "the creation of the simplest beings to that of man himself."

Corsi summarizes his findings: "In the late-eighteenth-century Parisian scientific community, there was extensive discussion on the origin of life, on the possibility of explaining vital-function characteristics in physical terms, and on interpreting the success of life forms on earth in evolutionary terms. Far from being an isolated thinker, Lamarck took part in a far-reaching, momentous debate that aroused the curiosity and concern of many of his contemporaries."

This book is a must-read for all those teaching history of science.

Despite his fame and authorial fortune, the place of Darwin in the history of evolutionary thought is an anomalous one, and the standard histories tend to reinforce this imbalance. The real birth of the idea of evolution was at the end of the eighteenth century, with Lamarck in many ways the first great theorist on the subject, with a definite plus in the camp of Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin's grandfather. Lamarck is too often taken in terms of his more well known, but less successful idea of adaptation, but this is a secondary question. In the depiction of Soren Lovtrup in _Darwinism: Refutation of a Myth_ Lamarck really produced several theories of evolution, among them that of the fact of evolution, as opposed to theories of the mechanism. Darwin ended up taking credit for what was really Lamarck's breakthrough, in part because the times were ripe, and because of the changes in social thought by the mid-nineteenth century. The idea of evolution was born and then passed under the spectre of Jacobinism, and the period of Restoration created a long delay in the idea's acceptance. We can still see that nervous reluctance to even broach the topic in Darwin himself.
Many of the first to assess Darwin's theory saw immediately that Darwin was really proposing Lamarck's first theory and grafting natural selection onto that, and they could see a problem there at once, undoubtedly one of the factors in the onset of debate and the confusion over evolution as fact and theory that became associated with Darwin's formulation. If the record could ever be set straight, this book might help.

Corsi's book made me change the way I teach the history of evolutionary theory. I had accepted the Darwin-centric account, which says that modern theory begins with Charles Lyell and Darwin. Yes, Lamarck originated 'transmutation' of species thinking and Cuvier was an outstanding paleontologist. But Lamarckian inheritance doesn't work and Cuvier was a bitter opponent of evolution.

Thanks to Corsi's painstaking research we know that English evolutionary thought was time-lagged about a half century behind the French. The unifromitarianism vs catastrophism interpretation of earth history, which I had thought was due primarily to Lyell, was intensively debated by French geologists by 1800. The geologist Philippe Bertrand, proposed, in 1797, the marine origin of life and gradual evolution of all organic forms. Terrestrial plants and animals are descended from original marine species. Julien-Joseph Virey proposed (1816) that the term 'evolution' be used to denote the transmutation of species. 'It is thus plausible that, thanks to such evolution, nature has risen from the most tenuous mold to the majestic cedar, to the gigantic pine, just as it has advanced from microscopic animals up to man, king and dominator of all beings.' In his Histoire naturelle du genre humain (1800) he stated the principle of sexual selection, which assured the optimum adaptive state through elimination of the weaker: "Nature resembles the law of Sparta, which let weak and sickly babies die, but took extreme care of strong, muscular individuals. Thus it is that women submit more easily to the most ardent males, seek the strongest ones, prefer the most untamable." We seem to hear Darwin speaking when Virey writes: "Nature initially produced only one very simple plant and one very simple animal, which it then varied to infinity, with gradual increases in complexity, to produce the most consummate species." The geologist Louis-Constant Prévost proposed that the evolutionary descent of each organism might one day be traced from the fossil record, from "the creation of the simplest beings to that of man himself."

Corsi summarizes his findings: "In the late-eighteenth-century Parisian scientific community, there was extensive discussion on the origin of life, on the possibility of explaining vital-function characteristics in physical terms, and on interpreting the success of life forms on earth in evolutionary terms. Far from being an isolated thinker, Lamarck took part in a far-reaching, momentous debate that aroused the curiosity and concern of many of his contemporaries."

This book is a must-read for all those teaching history of science.

I love this book, and I love Jack, the mule. The story of a month long trip by mule cart from central Florida to the mountains of North Carolina by a woman who made the trip with her husband, not in the nineteenth century, but just a few years ago, "Ain't You Got No Cah?" is a delight. It's a journey through the rural southeast backroads and back in time, at a particular point in a marriage. Whether you'd never do such a thing or would love to do it yourself, reading this book makes you feel as if you were with the travelers every step of the way. It's a wonderful view of America's astonishingly hospitable people who live by the side of the road. If you are like me and never loved a mule before, you have a treat in store. A book for everyone, it will especially charm armchair travelers who would really like to sleep outside or see the world from a slow, meditative pace, and sturdily withstand danger from unexpected sources, but who don't have the time, ability or mule and wagon. "Ain't You Got No Cah?" is a treasure, well written and vastly readable.

What a wonderful adventure story; to think a couple would travel from Floriga to North Carolina in a mule drawn buggy in this day. We loved it.

Jerold Hilton History Professor Emeritus Western Montana College

Mule and wagon journey: what a trip! "Charming" best describes my initial reaction. This tale of a Ann & Roy's 600+ mile mule & wagon journey from their central Florida home to the North Carolina mountains. Yep, they did it for the adventure of it, just for fun. Should you be feeling "down," or discouraged by unkind people, here is the antidote! Almost without exception the people they found were kind and generous beyond their imaginations. Meador manages to write vignettes of these encounters without the repetitiousness that can dull interest in travel writing. The Meadors (both 60+) are invited into the homes of total strangers, they find lovely places to pitch their tent, they take careful care of their mule and gain spiritual insight. The writing is simple, straightforward and full of good humor. I am a nurse. Over and over I think: " What a great gift for someone who is sick."

I have purchased the book for every new child I know. The pictures have enough detail to involve the young ones and the simple question of the book instigates interaction from the older audience(including myself). I debated giving the books away. Very refreshing compared to most books that have the same stories hashed out over and over again.

Albert is one of those rare books that is both fun and thought-provoking. After I read it to my boys, my younger son wanted to build a cardboard-box rocketship and my older son wanted to talk about our place in the universe. At every level, this is a satisfying book.

I was lucky enough to find this great little book on Amazon. We usually let our kids pick the books they want us to read when they go to sleep, and Albert has been selected quite often in recent weeks. And every time we finish reading Albert - we are bombarded with questions. They are falling asleep a bit later than usual - with a lot of unanswered questions in their heads. I can highly recommend Albert.

Giacometti well expressed the alienation and estrangement of the human condition in his sculpture.

In addition to his familiar sculptures, this book has quite a few drawings and paintings of the master. What a painter!

Surprisingly enough, there are comparatively few quality publications on Giacometti, one of the greatest artists of the XXth century. This catalogue for an exhibition that was held at the Moma and at the Kunsthaus Zurich, draws on the extensive Giacometti holdings of both museums for a comprehensive survey of his career. From his surrealist period to his trademark elongated figures, from his numerous drawings which served as studies both for his sculptures and his paintings, to his lesser-known oils, the whole career and output of the artist is very well illustrated in a book that I highly recommend.

'Democracy in America' was a smash hit in France when first published in 1835, an expression of their intense desire to create a democratic society based on the example of Americans.

Americans still love the Tocqueville idea; it is the strongest proof by a European aristocrat that "democracy" was invented in America. Epstein writes, "Americans didn't have a history to rewrite. Setting out very nearly as a tabula rasa, they charged themselves not with changing an existing society so much as with making an entirely new one."

Alexis de Tocqueville wrote the ultimate 'Do-It-Yourself' guide to freedom, a superb portrait of Americans, their quirks, habits, ideas and attitudes. These are also basic English qualities. In America, far from the daily rule of lords, ladies and other layabouts, this natural decency and innate distrust of authority blossomed into an unparalleled freedom.

Epstein understands Tocqueville wrote an astute portrait of how Americans use democracy. But, it didn't inspire the French to copy and improve upon the American precedent. Tocqueville rejected Montesquieu's idea "that forms of government engender modes of behaviour (monarchy, honour; aristocracy, moderation; republicanism, virtue; despotism, terror). Tocqueville showed that things often work the other way around, with modes of behaviour just as likely to engender forms of government."

In other words, the naturally rebellious English flourished in America and created a decentralized government with constitutionally limited powers (see Amendment X to the US Constitution). American democracy is due to evolution, not immaculate conception. It is still evolving and improving, as seen in the change from Dred Scott to Brown vs. Board of Education.

These books, both Tocqueville and Epstein, are a valuable balance to 'Vice' by Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein which describes how Vice President Dick Cheney schemed to give the presidency unimpeded power to conduct foreign affairs and declare war on their own whims and falsehoods. Epstein cites Tocqueville's strong opposition to centralized authority that has been a feature of France for at least 1,000 years and is now an obsession of the Bush administration.

Anyone who wants to understand democray in America should read this brief but astute insight into the mind, character and nature of Tocqueville. The nature of the imperial presidency changes, from respect for democracy to worship of power. As Epstein shows so clearly, it is the basic decency of Americans that keeps their democracy alive, well and growing. Democracy is what people make it and what they are comfortable in living with; it is not a gift of government or any other paternalist.

Like a great guidebook to a city or country, Epstein has written a great guide to the genius who came, saw and understood the exceptional nature of Americans. In these times, it is an invaluable resource to understand the current debate between a president who thinks "I'm the decider" and the rights of Americans to make the vital decisions about their lives, well-being and destiny.

Joseph Epstein has written a very useful brief (205 pages) biography of Alexis de Tocqueville, author of "Democracy in America" (1835). This is one of two new Tocqueville biographies--the other being the long-germinating volume by Denis Brogan. The author strikes a very nice balance between covering Tocqueville's life, while also devoting some attention to his major writings. So while there is a discussion of "Democracy in America" it is not as extensive as if the book were a commentary on it alone. Other Tocqueville writing efforts, especially his book on the causes of the French revolution and uncompleted second volume on the actual revolution itself, are discussed as well. But basically, the book is a fast paced review of Tocqueville's life, political career, and relationship to various French governments (including his service for a brief time as foreign minister). Several times the author touches upon Tocqueville's central dilemma--the relationship between democracy, liberty and equality. The discussion of Tocqueville as an aristocrat commenting on democracy and equality is quite interesting. The book has no notes, bibliograpy or index--but does have a brief note at the end regarding the most valuable sources the author found on the topic. The author's writing style is quite pleasant and enjoyable. Quite a lot of info packed into a relatively short book--enough of a taste to let the reader know whether it is worthwhile to invest in one of the longer treatments of Tocqueville's life.

The editors of the Eminent Lives series chose well when they selected Joseph Epstein to write this brief biography of Alexis de Tocqueville. His research and writings about Envy, Snobbery and Friendship have served him in his task of "getting at the quality of mind" of his subject. Tocqueville was an ideal friend, loyal, generous and abiding. Born an aristocrat at the beginning of the inexorable advance of equality, he knew about envy and snobbery from both sides of the fence. While Equality was the "idee mere" from his observations of democracy in America and the revolution in France, his sympathies favored Liberty although he recognized the dynamic tension and irreconcilability between them. He wrote that democracy and equality discourage both brilliance and great crimes while fostering mediocrity and comfort. Liberty allows the means to excel but few benefit and many suffer. A spectrum of political opinions find confirmation in his books. Epstein projects a clean, sharp picture of the man and his ideas. Informed by Tocqueville's works and other biographies, this is not a digest but a distillation enlivened by Epsteinian wit.

This is a beautifully illustrated version of the 19th century hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful." The illustrations follow a country girl as she explores the world around her. The illustrations propel the text's message to the next level, powerfully demonstrating the beauty of God's creation. It's worth pausing at every page-spread to admire the pictures for a few extra seconds, and it doesn't detract from the reading of the story at all.

Each 2-page spread has 2 lines from the hymn, and a 2-page illustration spread surrounding the words. The text is a nice large size. In the back two pages, the hymn is printed if you'd want to play it or sing it with your children.

I'd highly recommend this book to anyone with young children that they want to teach of God from their earlist days.

This is an easy review - the book is simply great! If parents are willing to sit down with their children and read, especially starting before they are two years old, this book will help to spark the imagination of practically any child. The song couldn't make a better subject for a book. The story should help form the foundation for a strong moral and religious background. The illustrations are beautifully done and our twenty-two month old picks out things that we hadn't even noticed. I recommend the book to all parents and encourage them to read it nightly, taking the time to discuss what they see in the pictures. I sincerely hope the author has more projects in the works!

All creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all... This is a great hymn, one of my favorites (especially the arrangement by John Rutter). Reading (singing!) this book to my children has given them an appreciation for the beauty in God's world. The illustrations are the kind that a child is drawn into - the kind they can gaze at and imagine themselves in the scene.
A carefree country girl goes on a ramble as the hymn unfolds. My children (me too!) want to kick off their shoes and share in the child's absorption of the beauty around her.
Great way to children-ize a hymn.