Patterns, Patterns Everywhere

Describing patterns as things that repeat, the author challenges children to find the repetitive figures that impinge on our senses. Focusing on sight, the pages are magnificently illustrated with soft watercolor depictions of a variety of scenarios where patterns can be viewed.

Start with a coral reef filled with fish, then travel to a forest with birds, and ferns, trees and flowers. The fleeting verses carry the reader to various milieus to find patterns in the sound of the breaking ocean waves, or in the rhythmic music of a drummer, or perhaps in the signs found in different clothing fashions, or even at settings in your own home. Patterns can be found in stories, in visual and auditory intakes, even in smell.

This presentation, with its myriad entrancing colorful images, challenges the young reader to touch the objects and find the patterns each enfolds. It is a challenging learning device for children who can work together and discuss the different patterns each sees. The concept of patterns may be oblique for some, so working with an adult for guidance to find the patterns presented in these artfully illustrated pages might be advisable.