Customer Reviews

Lost In The Woods: A Photographic Fantasy

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Why would a small fawn be alone in the woods? Is he lost? Where is his mother? A short children's story, Lost in the Woods combines nice, detailed photography with a story line that points out one of the reasons why a fawn might be alone in the woods. With a frog, chipmunk, goose, squirrel, meadowlark, and other animals the fawn learns about them while waiting for his mother to return. With a handful of hidden animals to look for in the text it is also a fun challenge to find them all. Lost in the Woods is highly recommended for young children.

A semi-finalists in the 2005 Independent Publisher Book Awards!

A newborn fawn lies by itself in the forest. Is it lost? Where is its mother? As the other woodland creatures ponder this mystery, they offer the newcomer many suggestions. But the fawn rejects them all, insisting that its mother will return. Things are not always what they seem, the tale tells us. Mother deer leave their newborns for days at a time to protect their young. Children are introduced to concepts such as camouflage, not to mention a broad range of young animals, from goslings to a hilarious young raccoon. Close-up photography of each animal is superb, and shots of the fawn make you want to reach out and touch its shining coat. The husband and wife team who created this book have been photographing wildlife together for years, and wanted to help others appreciate outdoor wonders. How fortunate for all readers who discover this remarkable offering!

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The writing in this book is much stronger and more vivid than the writing in Stranger in the Woods. Stranger in the Woods gave me the feeling that the photos could stand on their own at least as well as they could with the text. Lost in the Woods, however, has a definite storyline to help the images along. I don't appreciate the fairly meaningless repetition of sounds (like "chickadee-dee-dee") any more than I did in the first book, but it doesn't stick out as badly here. I felt a little thrown when I got to a point in the storyline that seemed to be the climax/ending and found that the book didn't end there, but the story is good overall. The photos are charming, and the back of the book features a selection of critter pictures to go back and find within the larger photos. There's a lot to look at here.

Poor little fawn, did he lose his mother? That was the first thought I had in mind when I read the book, Lost in the Woods, by Carl R. Sams and Jean Stoick published in 2004. This book is full of beautiful photographs that tell the story of a lonely little fawn in the woods and all the baby animals that are curious about his being there. The different animals are trying to figure out if he is lost but the fawn reassures them all that his mother will be back soon. The mother does indeed come back and the fawn is now allowed to go along and explore the world around him. He gets stronger and is able to frolic through the grassy hills with his mother.
There is a curiosity that only children have and I think these baby animals represented exactly that. They all are very interested in who this fawn is and where his mother is and try to give the fawn advice. I am sure that children reading the book will be curious about it as well. The photographs are wonderful and really capture the emotion in every page. There is a photo of a red-winged blackbird with its wings spread out so beautifully and a photo of the doe licking her fawn with such love. At the end of the book there are pictures of other animals that are hidden in the photos throughout the book. This gives the children a chance to take a second look to see new things on the same pages they have already read. This is a good way to add a fun game to reading. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

This book is an outstanding one for all ages, illustrated with incredibly beautiful wildlife photographs. It also has an important message about how young fawns hide in the woods until they are big and strong enough to follow their mothers. Many fawns brought to wildlife rehabilitation centers are "kidnapped" by well-meaning people who believe they are abandoned. This story gently reinforces the message that in most cases "Mama will come back".

Lost in the Woods is beautifully worded and includes lovely, realistic professional photographs of woodland animals. It's gentle story teaches facts about the woodland animals. If you have read Stranger in the Woods and like it, you will have to add Lost in the Woods to your collection. The husband/wife team of Sams and Stoick pair up to create almost 'being there' books for children, but also enjoyed and treasured by adults.

I also love reading it to them! I highly recommend this book for young children. The real life pictures are breathtaking and the story is sweet.

This book has amazing pictures and opens up the world of animals to all readers in a new way. It has a very creative storyline to go along with the pictures taken in the woods. I started reading his book alone and by the time I was finished I had children sitting with me engrossed in the story. It's a book for all ages. If you love nature photography this is a great book for you!

Lost in the Woods is another award-winning success for Carl Sams and Jean Stoick. This time it is a photographic pictorial of spring and its new arrivals. The photographs are magnificent (as one would expect from Carl Sams) and the text is clearly written and appropriate to the subject: not too much, not too little, but just right. The colors are intense, especially the greens. LITW is a book that will please children from ages one to one hundred and one with its many young animals, new spring flora, musical prose, and hidden woodland creatures which can be found upon more intense scrutiny.

The storyline has to do with the arrival of spring and new life in a woodland and its surrounding meadow. Leaves on the trees suddenly burst forth in refreshing greens, flowers bloom, and animal babies arrive, each wondering when will be their time to roam or fly freely about the world into which they were born. Several of the young wonder about a newborn fawn that appears to have been left alone by its mother, not understanding, of course, that there's a very good reason for this. The fawn believes Mother will return, as she certainly does. The story is told by Shirley the box turtle to Fernando Hernadofandavez, a most comical young raccoon who is looking for his brother, Hernando. He's a stitch!

There is also a DVD of LITW available (if you think the raccoon was funny in the book, wait `til you catch him on film with a voice). You'll find the movie version of the book by doing a search under Amazon's DVD tab. We received a copy as a Christmas gift. Three generations of us watched it together and enjoyed it entirely!

Carolyn Rowe Hill

Aside from the phenomenal photograpy, the story itself presents a good life lesson for children. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves nature and children.