THE FOREST HAS EYES
by Elise Maclay & illustrated by Bev Doolittle
Free verse poems celebrate nature and aspects of native people’s lives, accompanied by romantic wilderness canvases by Doolittle. Children will enjoy hunting for the animals and people hidden in the rocks, water, and snowy landscapes. In one scene a smoky shadow is a grizzly bear; in another, snow on the rocks takes the form of an eagle. A rocky lake shore is also the head of a wolf, a herd of buffalo, the face of an old chief. Maclay invokes all the correct images, but the result is antiseptic: “Stay with me, Wolf Brother/As I watch over my village./Lend me your sharp eyes./Help me to remember that I am part of all I see:/Every animal and bird/Every rock, every tree./We are all part of the beautiful circle of life/Created by the Great Spirit.” (Picture book. 6-9)