FIDDLEHEAD FOREST

If a tree falls in a storm, will the forest’s flora and fauna rush to the rescue?

They do in Curll’s latest graphic venture into one of the world’s Little Habitats. But despite a dot-eyed fern’s confident promise that she’ll put things right (“It’s her personal guaran-TREE,” observes a nearby lichen) and the efforts of many small sylvan residents from Slug and Millipede to Moth and Mushroom, propping the fallen tree back up turns out to be a tall order. The author lightens the informational load as she goes, imbuing her simply drawn cartoon panels with punny exchanges and section titles (“How Are You Lichen Me Now?”) and pausing for cast member close-ups in order to highlight each one’s distinctive contributions to the forest community, diverse shapes and species, and important anatomical features. Alas, none of the forest denizens shows enough strength or savvy to shift the massive trunk, and so the task eventually leaves everyone stumped—until Fern suddenly notices that in the meantime the fallen tree has naturally taken on a whole new role as a nurse log, supporting the forest’s ecosystem in numerous ways. “I guess we FERN-ally figured it out.” “It was a LOG time coming.”

Engaging, informative, and rife with wordplay for pun lovers.