4 out of 4 stars
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The best kind of children’s stories are the ones which feature animals as the main characters. Elizabeth Munk’s Forest Edge Adventure is a children’s story which features a family of chipmunks. It was written by Faye McFarland. Her story follows Elizabeth Munk, the youngest chipmunk child, who accompanies her brothers to the Forest Edge. According to their mom, they must all work hard to gather food for winter. Elizabeth has a fun time exploring the woods, but what will she bring back to the burrow? Will it be sunflower seeds, holly berries, and pine nuts? Or will it be beautiful treasures of the forest?
This was a fun story. Elizabeth Munk had a sprightly personality. She loved adventure and raced outdoors as soon as she could to begin foraging. Although she had never climbed trees before, she was fearless when it came to doing this. Moreover, she loved nature. In the story, Elizabeth laughed as the breeze tickled her fur and she relished the feel of the cold raindrops on her face. Wesley Lowe’s illustrations also captured Elizabeth’s personality quite well. In one picture, he drew Elizabeth racing out of the burrow in excitement and in another, she was drawn with her paws open to the sky while the rain fell around her. The story definitely showcased a contagious enthusiasm for adventure and nature. I think that this can motivate children to enjoy the outdoors and inspire them to experience new things.
Despite the fact that animals cannot talk in real life, the author and illustrator allowed the book to be a learning resource for children. Although Wesley Lowe designed the animated illustrations using a colored-pencil and watercolor effect, he used realistic colors for the chipmunks. There was also a small section at the end of the book which gave facts about the Least Chipmunk which is the species of chipmunk which was featured in the story. A glossary was included which gave the meaning of some of the bigger words, like ‘omnivore’ and ‘hibernate’. I really liked this feature of the book as I learned a lot about these animals.
Creativity was one of the main elements of the book. In the story, seemingly useless items were put together to create new things. In addition to creativity, this part of the story may also have been a nod to recycling. This was an excellent feature of the story. This concept can teach children to see the value in useless objects. It can encourage youngsters to creatively reuse objects or inspire them to create something totally new.
I was really pleased that this book contained no errors. To me, it seemed as if it were professionally edited. I liked everything about this book and I’m delighted to award it 4 out of 4 stars. Elizabeth Munk’s Forest Edge Adventure will appeal to youngsters aged 7 and over.
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Elizabeth Munk's Forest Edge Adventure
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