IN THE FOREST

Animals—rabbit, salamander, opossum, deer, bobcat, bat, owl, mouse—from the forest ecosystem are briefly described and illustrated in soft color-pencil drawings in this entry in the Wild Wonder series. Cooper includes animals from the forest floor, the understory, and the canopy, supplying for each creature a sentence or two about home, babies, food, habits, and enemies. Emerling provides small drawings of the animal and its footprint, the latter of which is life-size. Also included are a range map, a color key to the ecosystem, and more than a dozen other animals to discover in the drawings. There are minor anthropomorphisms: Deer tells one of her fawns to hide in the tall grass, Robin sings, ``This is my place. Keep out!'' and bug-eating bats go ``Yum!'' Economical, effective, and charming. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-8)