Teaching children to be as mindful as gnomes

“I don’t know who loved this book more - me or my 5yr old. We often pretend there a little gnomes and fairies on our nature hikes and this brought to life many of the fun stories we have tried to create in our imaginary world.”

— Kelsey shenk, goodreads The Hidden World of Gnomes by Lauren Soloy(Tundra Books, 2023)Good to Read for:sparking imaginationfinding wonder in the natural worldhelping your child be mindful Like most kids, I was fascinated by tiny, secret worlds and the idea of little people secretly living beneath our noses (and possibly even the floorboards). 

My parents read us Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies series and the tales of Beatrix Potter (who often placed her anthropomorphic characters in the world of humans). As I got older, I read Mrs Pepperpot and The Little Grey Men books by B.B., not to mention The Borrowers. Some years later I discovered the global best-seller Gnomes by Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvliet, a manual-cum-biology book that explained the life and habitat of gnomes. 

   

Lauren Soloy’s The Hidden Life of Gnomes does something very similar, with a few distinctions: her book is aimed at a younger audience (meaning her characters engage in more relatable – and playful – activities) and feels less like a textbook and more like a field notebook or scrapbook. (She even includes a recipe for Gnome Cookies.)

   

This book is an introduction to the Hidden Folk called gnomes, who live in a happy place they call The Pocket. Where is The Pocket, you ask?

 

This direct question immediately engages and draws in the reader. And the answer?

 

Well, it’s all around you, all the time.

 

There’s something incredibly charming and captivating about Soloy’s gnomes. They don’t live in Toyland like Enid Blyton’s Big Ears. Her little folk aren’t sanitised. They are earthy and live in direct and harmonious contact with nature. This is reflected in Soloy’s uses rich, earthy tones (colours, she says, “that wrap you in a hug”). Combined with a heavy dark line, it lends her little people a slightly grubby edge (the tinted paper enhances the effect), which adds to her characters’ charm and credibility.

   

Although not a story as such, The Hidden World of Gnomes is full of delightfully named characters of varying skin tones (such as Hotchi-Mossy, Cob Tiggy, and Beatrix Nut). Each of the twelve gnomes gets a short section explaining who they are, what they like and their role in the gnome community. For example, Minoletta the storyteller ( who sports a colourful Fly Agaric mushroom headdress) is about to go on an adventure.

For her journey, Minoletta has packed:

 

Three blueberries so she has enough to share

A roll of spider silk rope spun by Twiggy Dell

Two flinty rocks that spark if they are banged together (for starting fires)

An empty clay jar decorated by Beatrix Nut

A cozy, rolled-up blanket made for her by Hotchi-Mossy

   

We rejoin Minoletta later as she ‘tells the story of Billy Button and his homes’ to some baby rabbits. Who is Billy Buttons? He is Abel Potter’s ‘pet woody pig’ (a woodlouse/pillbug) which children will enjoy spotting throughout the book (much like Goldbug in Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things that Go).

The gnomes’ year ‘is divided into moons. Each full moon’s name depends on what is happening at that time of year’ (for example, the Snowdrop Moon, Frog Moon and Strawberry Moon). And every moon brings a celebration because gnomes love any excuse to celebrate!

True to form, the celebrations continue throughout because Soloy’s mindful gnomes relish finding joy in the small moments that make up a day.

   

The joy of a good stretch.

The joy of being as loud as you want.

The joy of feeling the sun warming your eyelids.

The joy of listening to rain fall.

The joy of listening to bees sing.

The joy of dancing.

 

Circle dances can happen for numerous reasons, spontaneous or scheduled. Some examples include a new seedling or mushroom appearing, a full moon or just for fun… Dances always begin with clasping hands and tapping feet. And then the gnomes spin and sing.

 

The carefree gnomes play hide-and-seek, plant seeds they’ve collected, and make dandelion wishes.

They eat strawberries and sleep in a pile on warm summer nights under the full moon. (They are often joined by young mice, who can’t resist a good sleeping pile.)

   

They ride autumn leaves as they fall from the trees (‘[l]uckily they have very hard heads’) and compete to see who can stack the most snails. (Twiggy Dell holds the record at eight.)

   

All in all, being a gnome is a simple and joyful life.

They inspire me to get outside and engage with nature.  

As Publisher’s Weekly wrote, ‘this idyll invites readers to “see the magic in the world” as gnomes do.’

And for good reason. As Mrs. Spider’s message of the day (woven into her web a la Charlotte A. Cavatica) explains:

 

MY BELOVEDS, IT IS THE SIMPLE JOYS THAT MAKE LIFE WORTH LIVING

  In 2021, I participated in Joel McKerrow’s online writing course,  A Clearing in the Forest .

One of the exercises had me lying face down in the leaf litter, where I noticed a tiny snail shell, barely 5mm across and a ‘woody pig’ like Billy Buttons:

 

I push my nose into the soft flannel of wet moss. Is this what frogs smell like? 

To my left, caught in a praise position, lies a dead woodlouse. It forms a perfect C, and its underbelly is exposed. It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s dead like the snail, whose shell lies empty. Don’t bother knocking. Nobody’s home.

To my right - a two-leaf seedling, bright and eager, has pushed its way up and out from its hidden womb of earth.

Life and death and decay and new life. 

Sometimes, it pays to stop and notice.

- Tim Warnes  

The Hidden Life of Gnomes encourages readers to stop and take notice. In this day and age of distractions, non-stop entertainment and diminishing attention spans, it behoves us to follow the gnomes’ inspiring and joyful example.

Stop.

Slow down.

Pay attention. 

‘Because the world is full of treasure.’

Soloy’s parting lines are both instruction and invitation:

 

You can choose to look closely. You can choose to see the magic in the world. You can choose to believe, and your life will be infinitely richer if you do.

    Tips for sharing The Hidden World of Gnomes

The book contains a wealth of outdoor activities to enjoy with children. For example, check the undersides of leaves for hidden surprises like sleeping ladybugs. Then, find joy in simply tapping sticks together.

If you can’t face the weather outside, follow the gnomes’s lead and help your child write a letter to someone they love, or follow Bonnie Plum’s Recipe for Gnome Cookies.

The book is much longer than most picture books, making it suitable for both an extended storytime or to dip in and out of briefly. (Being picture-heavy, it’s also a great choice to encourage early readers with independent reading.)

STORIES WORTH SHARING

The Hidden World of Gnomes by Lauren Soloy

(Tundra Books, 2023)Good to Read for:Sparking imaginationFinding wonder in the natural worldHelping your child be mindful Copyright © 2023 Lauren Soloy (Text & Illustrations)From THE SECRET WORLD OF GNOMES by Lauren Soloy(Tundra Books)

GOOD TO READ

Best picture books to engage kids with nature and the outdoors

The Night Walk by Marie Dorléans

Hike by Pete Oswald

Bear and Wolf by Daniel Salmieri

On Sudden Hill by Linda Sarah & Benji Davies

The Hidden World of Gnomes by Lauren Soloy

DANGEROUS! by Tim Warnes

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright! An Animal Poem for Every Day of the Year by Fiona Waters & Britta Teckentrup

Sam Vole and his Brothers by Martin Waddell & Barbara Firth

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen & John Schoenherr

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“This idyll invites readers to “see the magic in the world” as gnomes do”

– Publishers Weekly

“[The Hidden World of Gnomes] aims to make readers more attentive to nature as a source of joy”

– Kirkus Reviews

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SOURCES

The Hidden World of Gnomes by Lauren Soloy (Tundra Books, 2023)Good ReadsGnomes by Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvliet (Abrams, 1976). Source: Amazon Publishers Weekly review of The Hidden World of Gnomes Studio Spotlight: Lauren Soloy and The Hidden World of Gnomes (Tundra Books, You Tube) Are you stuck for quality stories that you and your kids will enjoy? Sign up for your free weekly email with story recommendations and tips. SIGN UP HERE © 2024 BY TIM WARNES(UNLESS OTHERWISE ATTRIBUTED)****USE OF THIRD-PARTY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL FALLS UNDER FAIR USE/FAIR DEALING PRACTICE