WISDOM OF THE WOODS

A British import introduces little bears everywhere to the beauty of the wild via verse.

An opening rhyming salvo from a father bear informs his young cub that this book is about “tiny daily miracles.” Forty poems proceed to entice young readers not simply into paying more attention to nature, but into learning its secrets, too. While the poems generally opt for clarity over cleverness, some are scintillating in their brevity, like the delightful “Spider Math.” Often relying upon soft rhymes, the verse will instill in children respect and love for the natural world. Meanwhile, the full-color pencil and digital illustrations give life and vitality to the forest denizens. A note at the end returns to the bear addressed at the start, urging the cub to “love and pay attention to this wondrous world we live in.” An intriguing mix of fact and fiction, the book contains poems that convey information on pollination, hibernation, and more, while the art is entirely fanciful, with animals bedding down under sheets and blankets or wearing hats and kerchiefs. Scientific terms like magnetic field or bryophytes are bolded and defined in a glossary.

A lovely, eclectic collection of poetry that will make naturalists out of all who pick it up.