posted on 30 Jan 2025

Beneath by Cori Doerrfeld

I am always encouraged to see a picture book that is clearly going to focus on the wonders of the natural environment. The front cover of this one shows a child who is stomping through woodland looking down at the leafy ground beneath his feet. The reader can see that there is a busy underground world of tunnels filled with several small creatures scurrying about.

When I shared this engaging story with a group of three-year-olds, they were keen to show off their knowledge about these creatures, and we wondered why the child had a colourful blanket snuggled around him. One girl was a bit concerned that he was on his own but when we unfolded the book cover to show the back, she was relieved to see a bearded man with a stick following close behind – probably his dad or grandad.

Before the story gets underway, we see the same man looking around the door of a bedroom as the child is hiding under the same blanket. This prompted more questions from the children: ‘Why did the man look so worried?’, ‘Why was the child hiding?’ On the turn of the page, we found out that the child was called Finn and ‘seemed to be in a horrible mood’. His Grandpa was keen to find out what was wrong but could only persuade him to go out for a walk and talk if he kept the blanket over his head.

Their nighttime adventure into the forest begins with Grandpa’s reassurance:

‘I’ll remember to think of what’s beneath.’

As they walk along together, he explains about all the wonders that are below the ground, out of sight. We were able to see the roots of the trees, the beautiful fish swimming beneath the surface of the nearby lake as well as more woodland creatures burrowing beneath the ground. As the story unfolds, we noticed that Finn is starting to emerge from his blanket because he is curious about what his Grandpa is talking about. He tells him that sometimes there can be secrets hiding behind something solid, like the inside of a tree trunk and that new things are growing slowly beneath the ground that we can’t always see. The insides of plants, animals and especially humans are fascinating:

‘Everyone is more than what you see.’

With these wise words he goes on to suggest that it is important to trust other humans, even if they look as if they might not understand. By the end of this charming story, we were pleased to see that both Grandpa and Finn are smiling and showing a special connection as they share the wonder of the starry night sky together.  

Part of the Empathy Lab collection of books for 2024, I recommend this beautifully illustrated picture book published by Scallywag Press. You will be able to get a copy from your local independent bookshop and if they don’t have copies on their shelves, they will be happy to order it for you.

 

Karen Argent

January 2025