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Author Campbell takes young readers with her on a walk in the woods while teaching observation and curiosity, sometimes humorously: "The great stag stands tall on the path just ahead. We count twelve points on his antlers. How does he go to bed?" It is refreshing to see everything growing in the woods as a garden. After all, gardens aren't just where carrots grow. Teaching young readers that moss and mushrooms are alive helps them see the magic on the forest floor.
Like taking a future musician to the symphony for the first time, this might be the first inspirational book for a future child artist/writer. The prose and the paintings are stunning. While the illustrations by Cathy Flynn are what will draw the children in, it is the story that completes the journey to the forest. Kids love rhyming books, and this one performs with rhythm and meter in conjunction with the serene scenes.
Animal lovers may be the first ones attracted to the book on the kindergarten library shelf, but nature lovers, hikers, and everyone else will swoop in, especially when the teacher reads and shares the magnificent pictures in that "teacher-like" way by panning the room. The reading is likely at a second-grade level for independent reading, but even three-year-olds are going to fall in love with the fox and everything else in the forest.
Every elementary school library needs refreshing nowadays. Librarians and parents may consider starting here. With no conflict or politics to detract from its calm charm, this children's book is simply lovely.