Alone in the Forest

PreS-Gr 1—In the straightforward style of the traditional oral storyteller comes this simple tale of a boy learning to conquer his worst fear. One afternoon, when his mother is feeling sick, young Musa assures her that he can gather firewood from the forest. But the forest is dark, and, when he hears "out of nowhere, a great noise… crashing through the trees," the terrified child leaps into a hollow tree trunk, where he stays, crouching and trembling; thinking scary thoughts; feeling lost and alone. Later, when all is quiet and calm, a tiny squirrel and a friendly cow help him regain his self-assurance and he returns to the village. Painted in the primitive folk-art style of the Gond people, who live in the hills of central India, the extraordinary illustrations fill each page with bold, muted colors and meld perfectly with this well-told tale. The almond-shaped eyes of the flat, childlike images of people and animals that appear on every page are repeated in several huge representations throughout the story. People, animals, trees, clothing, and houses are highly detailed, patterned, and textured in black line. Illustrations and text vary in size and in placement on the page, the text often appearing in circles of yellow sun or blue shadow. Even the darkest scenes have touches of color. Musa's fear of facing the unknown without his mother's protection is one to which most young children will surely relate.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH