A Walk in the Forest [Hardcover]

A Walk in the Forestis a stunning invitation to discover the woods as a place for both imaginative play and contemplation: collect pinecones, feathers, or stones; follow the tracks of a deer; or listen to the chirping of birds and the whisper of trees. Build a shelter and play hide-and-seek. Pretend the woods are a jungle, or shout out loud to stir up the birds! The forest comes alive in all its mysterious glory in Maria Dek's charming watercolor images and poetic text.Maria Dek is an illustrator based in Gdańsk, Poland. After studying visual arts in London, she went on to receive her degree in illustration at the Beaux-Arts Academy of Warsaw. She has written and illustrated three books, and her illustration clients include cultural and educational institutions. A Walk in the Forest is her first book to be translated into English. 2016 will see the publication of two more of Maria Dek's books in Poland, and one in France. A pale-skinned child crosses a blank, white page into a screen of trees, where wonders await. Readers entering this book's varied landscape encounter similarly wondrous pictures and words. They stand in the child's shoes, enveloped by forest under a lush canopy of green leaves, looking skyward at brilliant birds darting from limb to limb. Verdant watercolor illustrations describe both the density and individuality of the myriad botanicals entwined in woods: fronds, leaves, branches, twigs, stems, grasses, and blossoms. Gentle imperative urgings pull readers into a lush, wooded embrace ( Run wild in the jungle! ; Follow footprints. / See where they lead you ). Dek's evocative woodland pictures, earnest phrases, and unhurried pacing evoke the quiet pauses and exhilarating discoveries experienced during a walk in the forest. Inventive compositional choices and surprising, shifting perspectives keep readers alert, expectant, and fully engaged. They look from above in all-encompassing aerial illustrations; they burble underwater, examinlsi