Seriously, he is obsessed with this book, and has been now for almost a year. He talks about it and asks for it all the time! I came here to see what else the author has written and it seems that this one is somewhat unique for her. I think what draws my young child in are the rich and detailed pictures of wildlife and nature and the overall dramatic rhythm of the story that is enjoyable to read aloud. There is a two page picture early on of an elk looking up at an oncoming storm cloud, and he makes me turn back to this page several times so he can study it. It is a little wordy for him as it is clearly meant for an older audience, so I tend to summarize, although he is getting to where he can sit through most of the text. My 7 year old likes it too, but after reading it once or twice over the last couple years he does not really ask for it. This book ended up in our library randomly from a collection that was handed down to me by a preschool teacher years ago. It wasn't until I found myself living in northern Maine on the edge a a true wild wilderness that I noticed this book, as it suddenly became very relevant for us. We have many friends and neighbors who are foresters, and forest fires are indeed a realty for us. This book does a beautiful job explaining the life cycle of a forest. The details about the wild life and vegetation provide a thorough and insightful view of the natural cause and effects of forest fires. We hear a lot about the devastation of these fires when they approach and often destroy residential neighborhoods, but the value of a naturally occurring fire in a isolated wilderness is truly fascinating and rarely discussed.
This book would be a great read for a 1st or 2nd grade classroom that was discussing earth science. It would be especially valuable for children who live in areas of wilderness that have forest fires. It would open up a nice discussion about the positives and negatives of these events and and about the difference between a man made fire and one caused by nature. For me, reading this book with my two year old is a nice relief from all the simple toddler books we have, and it is a great opportunity to expose him to mature concepts and vocabulary in an appropriate way. I am thrilled to give this a five star review as there are no other reviews here and I think it deserves recognition! I hope the author knows that there is at least one family out there who has literally taped together their copy of this well loved book!
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