Customer Reviews

Forest

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Forest
by Janet Taylor Lisle

Forest is about a town that consists of Upper Forest and Lower Forest. Upper Forest is home to lots of mink tail squirrels, but Lower Forest is home to humans. The story is about one mink tail that thinks war is the answer to a situation where the dad of a family goes to bring down the very large squirrel population. This squirrel is obviously wrong. A few squirrels and the children of the dad have to stop this other squirrel and most of the squirrel population.

I found this book very good, although it took a while for me to get into it. One thing that I really enjoyed about the book was that even though the squirrels could speak their own language neither the humans nor the squirrels could understand each other. So, the two groups had to find another way to resolve their issues with each other. I would recommend this book to people who like weird things. If you like page-turners, this is another great reason to read Forest.

ISBN 0590486802 - Way better than I expected! Chapters alternate viewpoints, sometimes told from the view of Lower Forest, sometimes Upper Forest. This adds a unique chance to look at certain moments from both sides, especially since neither side can actually understand the other's language.

Amber Padgett lives in a small town named Forest with her mother, her father and her brother Wendell. She's become horrified with the way people behave - killings, wars, etc. She's run away before; not far and not for long, just away. But this time, when she's missing, her father over-reacts and assumes she's been kidnapped by someone. Obviously someone NOT from Forest, because the world is a terrible place and Forest is not. She's actually just climbed a tree. At the top, she finds another world and she is curious about it.

This world is Upper Forest, and the residents are mink-tailed squirrels. Except for Woodbine, who is equally curious about Amber, they are not happy to see this "alien" in their trees and Barker, like Mr. Padgett, over-reacts, convincing the squirrels to declare war on Lower Forest. Meanwhile, on the ground, Mr. Padgett convinces the people to declare war on Upper Forest. Amber and Wendell set out to put a stop to things before they get any further out of hand.

There are moments, as one reviewer pointed out, that the story is a bit dark. They pass quickly and serve a purpose. Mr. Padgett does nearly shoot his daughter and I think this is a large part of the point of the book. Amber almost becomes collateral damages in her father's irrational squabble with some squirrels! There's so much more to this book than you would think and it's more than worth your time.

- AnnaLovesBooks

I read this book in fourth grade, four years ago, and thuroughly enjoyed it. I found it an interesting story, and more complex and enjoyable than most books that elementary students are able to read. I apreciated being able to see more than one side of the story, and the fact that the characters and their lives were not displayed as perfect. I would reccomend this book to anyone able to appreciate the lighthearted and the more suspenceful or more sad moments. Overall I enjoyed the balance of the story, and that fact that it was about animal and human interaction, but I'm not sure if the younger readers, say before second or third grade, would be able to completely grasp all of the concepts.

This is about a small town named Forest. Well actually two towns Lower Forest and Upper Forest. Lower Forest is home to the humans Amber Padgett in particular. Upper Forest is home to Woodbine and his fellow mink-tailed squirrels. For centuries, they have ignored each other. That is until the day Amber decides to visit them. Soon Upper Forest has declared war on Lower Forest. The only two who know the truth are Amber and Woodbine. They cant talk to each other. Can they stop the fighting before it starts?
Review by:Frances

I think Forest was a great book. As I was looking for a new book to read in my class room, I saw this title so I pulled it off the shelf. (I really like the outdoors so I thought this book might be good.) And surprisingly, I was right, and I read it in about 2 days. The story is told from 2 different views, a view from the tree tops of the town Forest (squirrells) and from the ground of Forest (humans). The main characterof the ground, Amber, explores the trees of Forest and starts to find out more about the squirrells. It seems that they have there own world and language. From the squirrells' point of view, the main character, Woodbine, is very interested in Amber when she comes up in the trees to look at all the squirrells. The squirrells think that the humans are aliens and are afraid of them. Now the some of the squirrells of Forest are planning to have a war against the "aliens"! Woodbine is very much against this, he thinks the "aliens" are harmless. Down in Forest the people are starting to notice that there are tons more squirrells than usual. And Amber's dad wants to take his gun and a few other men to go and shoot the squirrells! Though Amber knows what to do, she still has time before the search and destroy party goes hunting....... to find out more read the book! I very much recommend it!

Forest
By: Janet Taylor Lisle
The book I read this month is Forest by Janet Taylor Lisle. Forest is a fiction book.
The story is describing Upper and Lower forests. Several kids are exploring the forest. Anyone who looked up from lower forest grew dizzy. When the children found something in the forest it was an amazing sight. Most parents got worried when the kids went to the forest because they thought it was dangerous.
This book was ok but not my kind of book and not exciting enough.

Just marvelous! This one for entertainment. A book kids can lose themselves in and make friends with.

I liked this book because it told two sides of a story. After I read the book, I noticed how certain human characters act like different squirrel characters. This is a good book to read if you care about the environment.

Do you believe in child abuse, lying, cruelty to animals? Then by all means read this book. If not, stay away from a very bad book. I was so upset that this book targets 9-12 year olds I could not even finish it. It was bad enough when the father "smacked" his daughter, then later almost killed her with his shotgun while killing squirrels, but then in both instances he "neglects" to tell his wife. What on earth kind of message does this send to children?! While the premise of the book may well have value, the presentation of such incidents without a word of condemnation for such acts was disgusting. This book should not be read by children; it will give them a very wrong view of right and wrong!