If You Want to See a Caribou [Hardcover]

Phyllis Root (Author), Jim Meyer (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 2004 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

If you really want to see a woodland caribou, you might try going to a place forgotten by time. It should be a hushed place, with perhaps rocky green hills and blue water, home to loons and beaver, lichen and yellow buttercups. With every step, this gentle journey brings us to a deeper and more unique connection with nature. Phyllis Root’s mesmerizing text, together with Jim Meyer’s outstanding woodblock prints, makes the very heart of the forest come alive and reveals that if you are patient and quiet, sometimes what you are seeking will, in the end, find you.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 4-Set on a forest island in Lake Superior, this reflective story follows a child and parent as they explore the area, hoping to see a caribou. Written in free verse, the text describes how they find signs of beavers in fallen birch trees, enjoy the exhilarating scent of balsam, and, in the heart of the woods, discover "the moss-edged bones of a caribou long dead." While silently sitting near the shore, they observe a caribou cow and calf wading in the water. The child whispers her name to the calf before the animals return to the forest. As the explorers leave the island at sunset, the youngster is delighted that she has seen a caribou and that he now knows her name. The restrained tone and natural rhythms of the language add depth to the telling. Meyer's woodblock prints, inspired by landscapes of the Great Lakes, are ideally paired with the gentle narrative. The muted hues match the quiet mood of the text. The distinctive textures of tree bark, forest ferns, and rippling water are carefully portrayed and observant readers will enjoy examining each detail. An afterword provides information about woodland caribou. This thoughtful and unique work successfully portrays the wonder of discovery and of the natural world.-Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. Quiet poetry and beautiful color woodblock prints convey the excitement of wilderness encounters in this picture book set on a Lake Superior island. "If you want to see a caribou," begins the text, "You might go by boat on a good sailing day." In just a few lines per page, the poem continues to describe what one might see and feel on an island search for caribou, following the trails "churned back by caribou hooves," through balsam trees that "brush you with their scent," to the water where a caribou mother and calf come to drink, and "you whisper your name." Root's poetry is subtle, and children may have questions about a few challenging words, such as the names of plants, and phrases (Why have the caribou "rubbed the velvet off their antlers"?). But with you-are-there immediacy, the words show the shock and joy of meeting wilderness face-to-face, a sense that's beautifully captured in first-time-illustrator Meyer's serene, expansive woodblock images of a wide lake, pristine forest, and the wild creatures that become friends. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; None edition (April 22, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618393145
• ISBN-13: 978-0618393145
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,379,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Phyllis Root has written many award-winning books for children, including TEN SLEEPY SHEEP, OLIVER FINDS HIS WAY, ONE DUCK STUCK, WHAT BABY WANTS, RATTLETRAP CAR, and BIG MOMMA MAKES THE WORLD, winner of the BOSTON GLOBE-HORN BOOK Award.