A Springtime story "Lost in the Woods"

Spring isn't too far away. With the thought of melting snow and how soon we will see the grass turn bright green, the trees start to bud, and flowers making their appearance, I have been in the mood for some good springtime books!  I came across this one that the title caught me first Lost in the Woods What's it about? Does a kid get lost in the woods? Does it tell you what to do if you get lost? As all these questions about the title rolled through my head I knew I had to read it regardless of what it was about.  Picking it up I found that it's a Photographic Fantasy, with a fawn on the cover.  I was sold, this was the springtime book I wanted.

The Details:

Lost In The Woods: A Photographic Fantasy

 by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick 

Published by Carl R. Sams II Photography, Inc.

Copywirte: 2004

Grade level: K-2

National and International Awards for Lost in the Woods:

2006-2007 Children's Crown Gallery Award Nominee

2005 Independent Publishers Best Children's Picture Book Award

2005 Earlychildhood NEWS Director's Choice Award

2005 Earlychildhood NEWS Judge's Choice Award for Excellence

2005 USA Book News Best Children's Picture Book Award

2005 Library of Michigan "Michigan Reads!" Finalist

2004 Great Lakes Booksellers Association Book of the Year Finalist

2004 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Finalist

That is an impressive list of awards for any book, and it's easy to see why it received so many awards.  The photography is stunning and interactive.  The story goes perfectly with the subjects in the photographs, it's educational, and the story is fun to read aloud.
I will say I agree with the Kindergarten and older reading level.  My four year old and the other preschoolers I tried to read this book to were not interested.  They liked to look at the pictures but they lost interest quick in the story.

The story is about a fawn waking up in the woods alone, the other animals think he's lost, but he knows his mom will come back.  The fawn walks around the woods alone and meets other baby animals.  Finally at the end it's his time to join his mom and wander around.

Carl and Jean did a great job with putting a fictional narritive to the photographs they took and incorporating some nonfiction in as well.  Children learn about some different animals in the forest, what they do, and about the first two weeks of a fawn's life.

These two wild life photographers tell how they wrote this book to educate people that when they see a fawn alone in the woods they aren't abandoned, they spend most of the first two weeks of their life alone because the mother's sent will attract predators.  (This and more about the authors can be found on the inside back jacket cover of the book)   If you come across a baby deer laying in the grass alone you should leave it be, you can keep an eye on it, if you notice that it is injured, week, extremely thin or you want more info about finding fawns in the woods you can check out the National Wildlife Federation.  If you want to have a check list of questions to ask yourself you can find a detailed list here by Second Chance Wildlife Center.

There are many lessons parents, and teachers can use from this book.  I'd highly recommend it for anyone wanting to do a spring, baby animal, or nature lesson, identify animals, their sounds, where you find them, what they do, and so on.

I thought the book was easy to read. I'd say it's at a 1-3 grade could read most of it on their own with little help.  Reading it aloud I believe is the most fun and useful though so you can animate the sounds of the animals.  Example:

"Look how he used his spots.

He did. He did," said the Katydid

Then there's the little owl that was also another favorite of mine:

"Who-hoo-hoo do I see?"

hooted the little saw-whet owl.

"Someone's moving through my woods.

I saw-whet!

I saw-whet!"

There is a special treat at the end of the book, there's a page of did you spot these animals? And we spent time looking back through the book to find a little bunny, a caterpillar, and still haven't found the Tiger Swallowtail butterfly.  This was a lot of fun to do a look and find through each of the pages.  My youngest even noticed a shadow on the page about predators which I had read and searched twice before she pointed it out to me.  I think it's a great book you can read and find something new in with each read.

What did my daughters think of it?  My youngest lost interest in the book right from the start the first time we read the book for their review so only my oldest shared her thoughts on Lost in the Woods, you can view her video review here.  It wasn't until bedtime that my youngest would look through the book with me, and it's not one she will pick out to read together.

The Bottom Line: Perfect Spring Read

The story-line: is fun, easy to read, educational, and entertaining

The art: is colorful, extremely interactive, educational, and aids the story.