Welcome to the Neighborwood, by Shawn Sheehy; Candlewick Press, $29.99, 18 pages, all ages.

Spring is in full bloom, so why not celebrate it with this wonderful ode to the outdoors.  Shawn Sheehy, (A Pop-Up Field Guide to North American Wildflowers; Counting on the Marsh: A Nighttime Book of Numbers) paper engineer and avowed naturalist, explores seven woodland creatures such as snails, beavers and spiders, and explains how these animals are uniquely adapted to survive in their environment and among each other.  Precision and attention to detail puts Sheehy on par with Robert Sabuda, and here deftly crafts a magical world out of handmade papers. The accompanying text is informative and to the point, perfectly suited to young readers. If this book doesn’t encourage children to get outside and start exploring, I’m not sure what will.