A companion volume to their 1999 collaboration, Beautiful Stuff: Learning with Found Materials, Cathy Weisman Topal and Lella Gandini challenge teachers from a variety of environments in North America to explore outdoor spaces to see where the children's interests lead. Inspirations and suggestions for using outdoor spaces as a classroom and natural materials to engage students. Topal and Gandini show how to create a natural materials studio and bring explorations to a deeper level. 2019. Paperback, 127pp.
Cathy Weisman Topal has been an art teacher for over 30 years. Professor Emerita in Art Education at Smith College, she is the author of numerous books for Davis Publications, including Thinking with a Line and Children and Painting.
Lella Gandini is an author, a correspondent for the Italian early childhood magazine Bambini, and adjunct professor in the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She serves as Reggio Children Liason in the United States for Dissemination of the Reggio Emilia Approach. Originally published in 1999 by Davis Art.