The Hunter

Gr 1–4—The Hunter wakes and slowly prepares himself for his journey. As he travels through the forest he looks around and sees the wonderful woods and the creatures that live there. Eventually he spies a deer and her faun and prepares to shoot, but is stopped by their beauty. He then returns home content to be another piece in nature's amazing design. Wahl has created a simplistic plot that highlights a moral dilemma plaguing our modern society, but manages to do so in such a natural way. The vocabulary may be a bit difficult for younger readers, but the words add to the overall intense effect of nature throughout the tale. The text itself is consistently easy to read and switches between black and white to best stand out against the illustrations. Jessell has outdone himself with a series of illustrations that are vividly real and capture the changing movement of Autumnal forest life. Through these illustrations' readers understand what the Hunter is seeing, and become just as amazed by the beauty of nature as well. Together Wahl and Jessell have created a gorgeous story that brings to light the colorful changing world we live in and how we can choose to be a part of it.