Interconnectedness with Nature as Depicted in Tony Johnston’s Picture Books

Nature is necessary; we rely upon her for sustenance, protection, and emotional well-being. This lesson is important to share with young children via their literature, as a means of instilling intrinsic values conducive to both sustainable living practices and the enjoyment of the outdoors. Such lessons are heir apparent in many of noted author Tony Johnston’s picture books. The text and illustrations therein reveal characters who share a healthy and robust relationship with their natural surroundings, children who love and cherish their environs. In response, nature provides such characters not only protection and sustenance, but also intellectual stimulation and emotional nurturing. This article will detail the manner in which Tony Johnston’s Winter is Coming, Amber on the Mountain, Sequoia, and Yonder portray children who anticipate nature’s seasons (stimulation); intuit the manner in which place feeds the soul (nurturing); understand cyclical processes (sustenance); and look to nature for comfort (protection). Both the story within these books, as well as the accompanying illustrator’s “second” underlying story will be examined, in association with, and aligned to, modern psychological/educational theories as to the importance of an individual’s interconnectedness with nature. Such examination will support the theory that a child’s positive sensibility toward nature instills values which in turn contribute to what E.O. Wilson coined as “biophilia” and Gardner refers to as “naturalist intelligence.”