What Forest Knows: PB #9 for 14:14 Review

Title: What Forest Knows

Author: George Ella Lyon

Illustrator: August Hall

Publisher:  Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Year: 2014

Word Count: about 200

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Summary

Forest sees every season, from the first snowflake to the blossoming flower buds. Forest sees the ever-moving life in nature and the beauty it emanates. With lyrical language and rich and textured illustrations, What Forest Knows takes you on a hike through the trees, beyond the meadows, between the deer and foxes, and into the heart of the outdoors.

Story Element: Pacing

Spread 1: (Introduction)

A dog's fresh footprints - FOREST knows snow

Spread 2: (Pacing - quick)

Dog sitting on an icy surface, looks down at frozen fish.

icy branches

frozen waterfall

Spread 3: (Pacing - peaceful phrases)

squirrels asleep in hollows

insects burrowed in bark

moles resting among roots

Forest knows waiting, 

holding on.

Spread 4: (Pacing – anticipation)

Forest knows buds

soft life pushing through

hardwood,

Spread 5: (Pacing gives musical flow)

a haze

of yellow-green, purple, pink

above cascading creeks.

Warblers, woodpeckers, bluebirds

sing spring songs,

weave nests.

Forest continues through the seasons.

Forest knows everything belongs. 

All the animals, nature and a dog that scampers through Forest.

Even the reader –

YOU, too.

(Post #9 for the 14:14 Picture Book Blog Review Challenge created by Christie Wild of Write Wild. http://christiewrightwild.blogspot.com)