A FOREST BEGINS ANEW: FIRES VS FUTURES

 If you didn't catch my recent notes about JUST ONE OAK, feel free to read that or other posts-from-the-past in praise of books that reveal and celebrate the remarkable role of trees and forests of all types. When such essential anchors of bio-systems are left to the forces of nature, they can and do serve years, even centuries of purpose within our planet's survival and evolutionary success. 

The role of a single tree, let alone a forest full of trees, spans centuries, landscapes, and lifetimes, demonstrating impressive generative intelligence to rival anything AI might offer. (In my humble opinion, ahem). 

Fires do occur naturally, and can be launched intentionally for regenerative purposes. This has been true across cultures and time. Measurable changes in climate patterns are producing earlier and hotter seasons, more extremes in drought and rainfall, deeper and longer el niño and el niña seasons, with winds and other conditions that result in forest fires far more extensive and destructive than in recorded history. And these reoccur more frequently and severely with each passing year. 

ASTRA YOUNG READERS
2026

As the author's dedication in A FOREST BEGINS ANEW states, this book is "For EVERYONE SEARCHING FOR HOPE". I appreciated that and also a quote from youth activist Greta Thurnberg: "You are never to small to make a difference."

This is a debut from author Louise M. Aamodt and her rhymed text is effectively illustrated by Elly MacKay. 

The lyrical lines unfold in the rhythm of "this is the house..."  but don't rely on that template completely. Rather than accumulating and repeating stanzas or locking exclusively into the original pattern, occasional short phrases signal transitions and progressions, while each stanza and page spread is focused on a phase of the timeline from the assumption that readers won't need to learn what a forest is, but can be led immediately into the launch of a heat-lightning strike on a single tree. Tension is instantaneous as cloud becomes strike becomes flames. Each rapid development is illustrated with informative details that reveal the plant and animal life affected at each stage while allowing readers to predict and question throughout each anticipated page turn. 

Lightning storms in themselves can be overwhelming to young audiences, and forest fires are even more so. (Think Bambi!). The grace and strength of this narrative and visual journey is that the pages with threat and devastation all incorporate survival, while moving readers through to hopeful management and adaptation within the first third of the book. Moving forward, the means through which both nature and humans can preserve and restore a healthy habitat is less stressful and much more reassuring and promising. Animals and youth all have agency and purpose in assuring a continuation of life, concluding with this sample of the undulating text:

"New signs of life

fill the burnt trees:

Critters/ and flitters/ and creepers/ and bees.

Budding and blooming

where fire swept through, 

this is a forest--

beginning anew.

The main text deserves praise and attention, but it's the back matter that reveals the teaching background of the author, including a posed and then explored question: 

Are fires good for forests?

Also an author notes addresses readers, directly posing concern for shared feelings of helplessness and overwhelming emotions that arise during natural disasters. Brief and accessible added facts follow that short message, revealing the extensive research behind a seemingly simple text. For those seeking sources and validation of content or added information, while multiple pages of references conclude this wonderful addition to any school, classroom, home, or nature collection.

We are currently immersed in a trajectory of global climate change that, in the scope of our planet's timeline, is barely a blink of the eye. And yet, we live our lives in his comparatively slo-mo space in which we can and should take actions. This remarkable picture book provides reassurance for all (yes, for worried young folks, but for older folks like me, as well). Fires, even those accelerated by human-caused environmental extremes, are recoverable, can even be beneficial, when we give nature time (and a hand) to regenerate and restore itself. That helps to know, and offers some science-based initiatives to suggest for young activists. Fire season, especially in western north America, is already upon us. hurry to obtain a copy and read this, then share it with young people in your life.

HIKING: Summer Time To Touch Grass

 

This book was released in 2019, just before the Covid lockdown, and it was certainly in the making for years before that. it was also a product of a time before the current "TOUCH GRASS" mantra arrived. THE HIKE, written and illustrated by Alison Farrell, is a testament to the staying power of a picture book at its best. 

CHRONICLE BOOKS, 2019

The target age for this charmer is preschool to kindergarten, and yet it speaks to me from the opening pages. The kid-friendly illustrations throughout invite any reader of any age to dive into the adventurous spirit of childhood and go along for the hike!  

The title page reveals the field guide notebook of one character, Wren, who leads the three sisters from their nature-setting home through a full day of exploration of the bounties and beauties of nature.

The main text is simple, using few but perfectly chosen words: 

"We are going on a hike."

On that same page, hand-lettered labels  reveal names of the sisters and their dog, multiple plants and critters shown in their natural setting, with the colors of nature rendered in simple media including choices that most kids would find in a large set of crayons. Page after page continues the labeling of flora and fauna, sample notes in Wren's field guide, the antics of Bean, and occasional speech bubbles as the girls interact. 

Their roaming consumes the entire day into dusk, but they eventually reach their destination, a mountain top at which each completes her mission. Their return toward a well-lit and welcoming home includes the overhead expanse of stars in labeled constellations. When that happy resolve concludes, Wren's sketchbook offers added spreads and valuable nature information, all presented in child-like speeches and lettering. The model it presents for launching a summer notebook/;sketchbook project for kids at home is both appealing and accessible. 

This is all valuable and appealing on its surface, but the seemingly simple story also resonates with each girl's individuality, with the purposeful and self-directed use of a summer day, with their mutual appreciation of each other and of nature. All of these elevate an apparently simplistic or even scientific choice of story to one that invites return over the days of summer and years of lives. 

To read a prior post featuring two picture books on the power of footloose nature fun, read HERE. 

I recently read two middle grade novels in which the worlds (one incorporating recognizable location names, the other with imagined names suggesting places we now know) are post-apocalyptic from both environmental and political destructions of the resources we too often take for granted. Both include scenes in which characters reflect back, with melancholy, to the people who came before, who failed to appreciate and protect what they had before it was too late. Both, I'll add, are able to offer hope and a suggestion of a better future in various ways, but neither imagines that the harm can be undone. If this sounds interesting to you or young readers you know, check out D-39, A ROBODOG'S JOURNEY by Irene Latham (a verse novel that reads compellingly) and The TEAR COLLECTOR by R. M Romero. My reviews on goodreads are linked to the titles.

The COW SAID BOO! Laughs Guaranteed!

PAJAMA PRESS, 2021

My sincere wish for us all is that none shall suffer a summer cold. But in case you do, here's a picture book with a fun spin on sneezing. THE COW SAID BOO!  is written by Lara Button and illustrated by Alice Carter. 

There are plenty of visual cues to make this a great title to add to your fall/Halloween collection, and it's a terrific variant on the typical ghost story. Even so, I love it as a summer read. Farm trips, day camps, pick-your-own berry outings, and even car trips with counting cows (people still do that, right?) invite books about cows. 

In this case, when COW has a cold and tires to say MOO!  it comes out BOO!  As someone who is overcome by sneezes (even when not caused by a cold) I loved that COW's sneezing sends her stumbling and bumbling into a sheet on a clothesline, and ... you can guess from there, can't you?

In this case the brightly colorful and cartoonish characters and settings invite little ones to cock-a-doodle along, and recognize that something unknown can be scary. Sometimes even friends  we know can seem not quite themselves. The humor in images invites repeated readings and reading-along, eventually showing  a highly satisfying benefit to this poor cow's condition. This is a picture book without guise or glamour, without intentional or implied messages, but one whose fun and frolic involve lively language, loyalty, and laughter.

For a paired reading, be sure to read  BOB, NOT BOB! by Liz Garton Scanlon.

LITTLE, BROWN BYR, 2017

 A boy with a cold is mispronouncing loads of words, starting with MOM! The fun and clever writing is no surprise (it's by Liz Scanlon!) so it's a highly recommended choice for word play and evoking some serious laughter (is that an oxymoron?). If you or kiddos you know are dealing with stuffed noses, both books are MUST HAVES. 

Or even if you're not! 

Both are read-aloud delights, especially for those who like to ham it up!

All the Ice Cream In the WORLD: A Parable

 I'm a fan of ice cream, so this picture book had me at the title: 

ALL THE ICE CREAM IN THE WORLD, written and illustrated by Masoud Gharebaghi.

CLAVIS BOOKS, 2024

After all, it's SUMMER, and it's HOT, and it's ICE CREAM!

The cover illustration confirmed my assumption that this would be a romp through the glorious possibilities of ICE CREAM. Perhaps with a sampling of world-cultural takes on it, or ways ice cream makes its way to our mouths (that's what the cover suggested to me), or even a story about some ice-cream-crazed kiddo who could never get enough to satisfy. Even the end papers echoed this brilliant array of ice cream options, revealing the creator's background in design.

While the title of this post suited the story between the covers, I was wrong about the plot. I found absolutely no sense of greediness or self-indulgence. In fact, this story is a parable about the innocence and empathy of children.

The story line is simple, but beautifully and heart-tuggingly rendered in soft-edged, stylized art that makes the story universally recognizable and lifts it from the specific to the human level. That's especially appropriate because it is a story of global crisis and the need for a global effort to resolve it. All the effort in the world.

The very individual and specific problem sets a baby polar bear at risk when its snowy den becomes an ice floe set adrift by global warming. Currents take the bear into an overwhelmingly large city, one oblivious to his presence (the first metaphor). Adults hurry past wearing earphones, staring at screens, or blankly tunnel-visioned on their seemingly important missions. enormous structures suggest massive consumption of energy and time and attention. the central double spread reveals the collaborative nature of problem solving and presents a wide diversity of young faces, all focused forward, directly to the reader. From that point forward the images of countless kids loses its individuality and shows the power of numbers and unified effort.

It took a few moments of examining the art before I felt its affinity to Dan Santat's THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE, the little imaginary friend who roams unseen throughout many pages of its journey. Until...

LIttle, Brown Books
 for Young Readers
2014

In that gentle but deep story only a dog notices the seeking and longing of another creature in need.

In this story, one child with ice cream sees the small bear, senses need, and shares her sweet cold relief. The resolution is both satisfying and alarming. With a call to all the children in then world to bring their ice creams, they provide an icy island to send back to sea, returning the baby bear to its mother. 

That happy ending is deeply poignant, with not-at-all-subtle final lines:

"The small humans gave up something they loved to help me.

Maybe one day, everyone will do the same to save our home."

Under the dedication that opens the book there is an even more direct message from the author about this crisis. The story does what the best parables do. It entertains, elecits smiles, has a sympathetic character in need and a surprisingly clever and courageous hero. The art is both charming and powerful, the colors and canvas textures draw the eye for closer looks. And the concept of an icy floating mass of ice cream provides a cool, chill, delicious image. But the undertow of adults (or humankind, more generally) unable to even notice need due to preoccupation with their own driven natures strikes very close to home. 

It's not long past the time of graduation speeches and adults advocating for young people to take leadership in a challenged world. Fair enough. Every "next generation" has been charged with "doing better" or fixing the world. But the current state of conditions, the self-centered destruction that generated disastrous threats to the survival of the future generations, have wreaked havoc on the planet and make those requests immeasurably unfair. I have great faith in YOUTH, in their care and creativity and commitment to doing better. But I wish and hope that those of us who are older would shake loose of our preoccupations and contribute to solutions now, and forever forward. To put our shoulders into helping turn this ship around.

On a side note, I reflected on my own greedy reaction to the title before reading this book. It turns out there are many books about ice cream and its allure, and I refuse to think that having some fun and funny reactions to the prospect of mountains of ice cream is "wrong". Even so, I was grateful for this lovely reminder that such pleasures, in stories or in scoops on cones, should  close my eyes to "big picture" stories such as ALL THE ICE CREAM IN THE WORLD. If this subtle misdirection gets others to open and read, I'm happy to know it. And I hope you'll "save room" for this one among your lighter and more distracting choices.