Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Great North Woods
Illustrator: Michael Rothman
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Creative Editions, 2016 ISBN: 978-1568462752
It is dawn in the north woods and the sun is beginning to warm the ground, the plants, and the animals. Bumblebees get to work collecting nectar, a bobcat grooms its fur as it lies in its lair, and the great grey owl folds its banded wings.
Water plays a big role in the north woods, where there are lakes and ponds everywhere. Here loons “trill,” herons “stab” at polliwogs and other creatures, and ducks “tip their bottoms” up into the air as they search for food underwater. Under the surface all kinds of animals swim around and the fish, in particular, gar, walleyes, salmon and trout, bring anglers to the region “from near and far.”
Among the trees, in the forests, a pack of wolves is on the move. A young moose hears the clan “on the hunt” and he takes refuge in a lake, turning to face his foes with his small rack at the ready.
At night the sun-dappled ground is replaced by moon shadows, and raccoons, voles, owls, moles, deer, and foxes are out and about. Predators seek and prey hide.
In this stunning book a luscious rhyming text is paired with beautiful annotated artwork to give young readers a taste of what a north woods environment is like. They will ‘meet’ all kinds of animals, and get a sense of how special the north woods are.
