The Jungle [Hardcover]

Out of the morning mist a vast ocean of leaves appears. What lies beneaththe varied and teeming life of animals and plantsis vividly portrayed through the cycle of day and night in the jungle world. Considered Helen Bortens masterpiece,The Junglewas inspired by a trip to Guatemala in 1967, when few others were going therelet alone a womanto seek out images and stories to share with children back in the US.A 2018 CBC Hot Off the Press selection
With beautiful, clear language, Helen Borten takes children through a single day deep within the Guatemalan rain forest in a reissue of her 1968 picture book, 'The Jungle' ... Matte paper whispers under the fingers as the pages turn to show layered prints and etchings of monkeys and ferns; of the armadillo and the jaguar. 'Under the leafy roof, it is dim and still,' Ms. Borten writes. 'Time seems to have stopped in a wild summer world of long, long ago. Thick vines hang from trees like ropes.' The evocative description of natural things in a natural setting brings to mind the cadences of Robert McCloskeys beloved 1957 picture book, 'Time of Wonder.' With their patient pacing and a sense of quiet reverence, both are books to savor with children ages 3-9. Meghan Cox Gurdon,The Wall Street Journal
I was enchanted by the art first, and drawn into the jungle with her verbiage. This is the way to learn about rainforests. Glass of Wine, Glass of Milk
Bortens lyrical prose deepens the naturally enchanting science of the jungle. As the story unfolds across the hours of the day, we learn about the noisiest animal in the world, about the invisible universe of strange and magnificent nocturnal creatures, about the species composition of the insect orchestra scoring the jungle at dusk. & In era when the vocabulary of childrens imagination is being forcibly robbed of reverence for the wilderness and antiscientific, anti-nature, anti-truth propagandists are hard at work, Bortens childrens bl“.