Remember I am Forest. Remember I am here.

Forest Has a Song by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater is a collection of poems that celebrate the wonders and natural pleasures to be found in a wood forest.

A girl and her dog take us along as they venture year round through a nearby forest, using all their senses.  They feel and smell a winter breeze and make note of the animal prints left in the snow.  Spring brings the raucous sounds of a frog looking for a mate.  Summer evenings create a sense of wonder as nocturnal birds and animals start to stir.  And autumn brings the bright colour changes in trees and the busy activities of animals getting ready for winter.  Whatever the season, she is intrigued by many of nature’s wonders - like a spore-spouting puff ball mushroom or the code-like conversation she listens in on when a woodpecker “types poems with his beak upon a tree” or the web-spinning abilities of a hungry spider or gazing into the eyes of a fawn.

This is a book that creates a sense of what a forest is like.  The ease of the poems and the softness of the watercolour illustrations contribute to the feeling of peace, curiosity and pleasure to be found in nature.

A gentle book that will work well in the elementary grades.