This picture book and accompanying musical cassette by the well-known singer-songwriter Sarah Weeks presents the rain forest as the home of many creatures: "Home to orchid, home to moth, home to tree toad, snake, and sloth . . . we all need a piece of jungle . . . yes, that's what jungle is, home." The text, which is actually the lyrics to a song, does not read particularly well as poetry, nor is it enhanced by the music, the pace of which is quite fast, forcing the reader to whip through the illustrations at an unnatural pace. The beautiful color illustrations are the strength of the book, effectively portraying the lushness of the rain forest and the myriad creatures living there. The individual illustrations are enlargements of parts the of double-spread paintings at the front and the back of the book, which depict all the animals together. It's through the artwork that children will get a sense of diversity of the jungle.
Helen Rosenberg
About the Author
Sarah Weeks is the singer, songwriter, and author of the best-selling picture books
Crocodile Smile, Piece of Jungle and
Follow the Moon, a middle-grade novel,
Regular Guy, as well as the groundbreaking book with CD-ROM
Little Factory. She also wrote lyrics for the 1997 hit Disney video
Pooh's Grand Adventure. She lives in New York City with her two sons.
