The Tree in the Ancient Forest

by Carol Reed-Jones, Christopher Canyon (Illustrator)

Gorgeous artwork and a cumulative verse poetic technique add to this story of the life within the ancient forests of the world. The ancient forests are crucial to animals and to us. They are irreplaceable and readers will develop a deep love and appreciation for them in this book. We need the ancient forests of the world, and we have allowed over 90 percent of them to have been cut down. But we can still save the remaining 10 percent. It takes a deep love for something in order to want to work to save it, and this book will give young readers that love for the ancient forests. The cumulative verse format slowly builds to move readers through the forest to see the three-hundred-year-old tree, the roots, soil, underground truffles feeding the voles and mice that feed the owl and owlets that live in a hollow in the tree. The woodpecker and ants that started the hollow startle the squirrel and the marten, prey and predator running around the tree knocking the fir cones to the ground. There is a whole ecosystem in the ancient forests, and animals and humans depend on it for survival. This book will inspire young readers to love and appreciate these forests. A perfect book

Genres: Nature, Picture Books, Childrens, Science, Nonfiction, Environment, Animals

32 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

Reviews

[Sara]

This is the tree that Jack built…not my type of book.

[Michele]

First impression: This book is trying to be majestic, beautiful and important (like the ancient forest?).

Beginning with a 300 year old tree, goes through the food chain of a forest in a "there was an old lady who lived in a shoe" kind of way (beautifully and majestically, no silliness here).

Appendix includes:
*Characters in this story (tree, roots, animals, etc.)
*What is an ancient forest? (big trees, dead trees, fallen trees, etc.)
*Why are ancient forests important?

Really thought I was going to hate this book. In the end I enjoyed it.

[Matthew]

This book was basically built on the "house that jack built" model, except that it was about an ancient forest ecosystem. The last page described all the plants and animals that were mentioned in the text and it defines the term ancient forest. It also makes a plea for the protection of the remaining ancient forests in the U.S. and the world. Not a bad book.

[Victoria]

Tree and the Ancient Forest by Carol Reed-Jones and richly illustrated by Christopher Canyon focuses on the circle of life amongst the flora and fauna of a first growth natural forest. Just as Reed-Jones' story builds upon itself with each page, Canyons' art conveys the multi-layered world of an ancient forest. The whole is an attractive, deep, thoughtful, instructive children's picturebook.
It includes a glossary of characters, terms and ideas at the end.

[Amanda Neyens]

This was a really interesting book that talks about ancient forests. I think it would be a great book for children as a sort of introduction to nonfiction.

[Beverlee Jobrack]

Beautiful book about the ecosystem.

[Shawn Deal]

A good book. Nicely illustrated

[Kathy Blose]

The art is phenomenal in this book ..and the story is well written.

Kathy Blose of Las Vegas

[CFAITC]

The remarkable web of plants and animals living around a single fir tree takes on a life of its own in this story.

[Turrean]

Cumulative verse about the life cycle of a tree in a forest. Reading it aloud is a bit of a slog for the reader, since some of the repeated lines are more informative than fun-to-read.

[Bree]

Notes:
written in the pattern of The House that Jack Built and I found it irritating for this topic

[Jill]

Phenomenal illustrations. Well written with nice descriptions of the animals and plants at the end.

[Rani]

The ancient temperate evergreen rain forest in Washington is presented for children.

[Meghanchambers8gmail.Com]

I love this book and always have. I feel it reminds me of home and where I come from. It also sends a positive message about conservation

[Lori]

I never knew what truffles were.