3.5 Stars
Go Out and Play has a lovely concept, showing kids the ways they can play outdoors and explore the world instead of using smartphones and electronic devices. The illustrations of the background are perfect! I love the color scheme and the warm, cozy feeling of nature flaunting her beauty.
However, the badger looked a little odd on some pages. I think the smile was off. The fox looked rather cute. The story is presented in a rhyming verse, which goes off-key at times. Maybe a more natural tone would have suited better.
To sum up, the book is pretty cute and has an important message for the kiddos if you don’t focus too much on the rhyme scheme.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Clavis Publishing and am voluntarily leaving a review.

When the sun comes out, there's a world of possibilities to explore! Given the choice, who wants to stay indoors when there are so many adventures to be had? Kids are encouraged and inspired to find fun activities outside with friends and family in this sweet book.

Told in rhymes, the tone is upbeat and cheerful. The illustrations are soft, lively, and really support the story well. Kids will enjoy looking at all the little details and seeing the various animal characters. This would be a great circle time read and would make a wonderful addition to school and classroom libraries for pre-K and early elementary.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

This is a great little story, so appropriate for these days when children are spending too much time in the house on tablets, watching TV etc. It reinforces what most parents want their children to do: “go out and play”.

“The clouds are gone and the sun’s face has shown
It’s time to walk away
From the tablet, tv and phone.”

The verses are very catchy and fun to read. We follow a little badger who goes outside, trying his skateboard, making a fort in the woods, examining under rocks, swimming, fishing with Grandpa, playing soccer with a friend, lots of delightful ideas.

The illustrations are cute, richly colorful and I’m sure will delight young children.

We need more books that encourage outside play when there are so many devices that entice young children to spend too much time inside “watching things” instead of “doing things” !!

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

This is a beautifully illustrated book with great suggestions to enjoy time outside for younger readers. I would definitely recommend it, even as an adult I enjoyed it very much.

While I really appreciate the premise of this book, I'm not loving the execution.

Part of that is the way the book is written, in rhyme, but without any discernible metre.

Another part of that is the illustrations, which seem a bit uneven. On some pages, the little badger and his friends are adorable. On others, they look a little creepy.

The message about turning off screens and doing other stuff is great. No complaint there. Check out The Couch Potato by Jory John and Pete Oswald for another example of the "get your butt outside" premise for kids. We need more books that encourage offline activities.

Go Out and Play is a book that encourages children to put down their devices and go outside.. The story is cute and the rhyme is fun. The thing that I didn't really like is that not all children will have access to the things depicted in the book due to location (like city kids don't have a lot of green spaces) or income (like their families may not have access to a telescope or even a place to go swimming). I think that may leave a lot of children out. The illustrations were pretty though.

Thanks to Netgalley and Clavis for a free digital copy.

In a gentle way this book encourages kids to get outside and play "analog" while it nurtures and fosters a sense of creativity, imagination, and adventure. The illustrations are adorable and I just love the message.

Go Out and Play tells of all the wonderful things a child can do outside and encourages them to put away the devices and try something new. The images of the badger and all of the other animals are adorable and engaging. Would be appropriate for very young children.

Though beautifully illustrated, Go Out and Play falls pretty flat with its trying-too-hard rhymes and inconsistent rhythm. While I appreciate the sentiment behind the book, and the practical ideas it gives for ways children can unplug and enjoy some time outside, it just felt very forced and read less as a children's book and more as a guilt trip for parents. It also relies heavily on an idea that kids have access to large natural spaces, so I wouldn't recommend this book for any city-dwelling children.

Go Out and Play is a very cute and important kids book about taking a break from screens and going outside to play! The colors and illustrations were so beautiful.

This beautifully illustrated rhyming story will hopefully spark something in kids. A very independent young skunk is urged to get outdoors. There are many activities that could appeal out there, everything from soccer to fishing to forts to wishing wells and more. The author and illustrator do a fine job of showing that these past times can offer as much of a good time as the things that are done indoors. I do note that our young skunk has minimal supervision so parents may want to address this if they feel the need.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Read this story with my nephew and it was wonderful! The artwork is fantastic and engaging and the message is a great reminder for kids and adults alike.

This book demands its young badger subject get out into nature and play – use the trees for their shade misses him, the fields are empty without him, the irresponsible and sans-adult-supervision dive-bombing off the dock into the nearest lake has his name on it, and so on. Done in rhyme, it really misses its own meter at times, but is very pleasant to look at, and while ignoring the fact much of its potential audience just doesn't have an outside wilderness as portrayed here for their use, does urge one to have a fort, an exploring bike ride, and less tablet screen time. It almost makes itself a seasonal book with its attractively autumnal, seize-the-day-before-winter-comes approach, but that was a positive factor in my mind.

Go out and Play was such a cute little read! The illustrations were the cutest! I loved the colours, the drawings, and the endpapers with the little leaves on a yellow background was super pretty. I think that this short story will be a very good reading to children because it may encourage them to actually go out more—I suppose it is the whole purpose of this book, and it is well-done! Reading it as an adult, the first theme, with the TV and phone, felt pretty actual and striking. Now you see many children always focused on screens, not enjoying what beauties you can find outside. And this book reminds us and them that they are beautiful things to observe and experience in life, apart from looking at a screen and fake things that are spread online. So, this is a super cute read, and I'm sure children would love it!

Thank you Netgalley and Clavis Publishing for the eArc!

Love the water colour illustrations! Such a treat.

A storybook to encourage kids to go outside and play and explore.

The kids need such books. More and more!

Thank you, author and artist, for the advance reading copy.