You'll Get Lost in This Book's Beauty

Several years ago, my aunt gave me the book Stranger in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy for Christmas. I'd never seen it before but was immediately entranced by the gorgeous close-up photographs of various woodland animals. While that book is firmly rooted in winter, Carl L. Sams II and Jean Stoick, a husband-and-wife team of wildlife photographers, next brought their creativity to a summery book as lush and green as their first effort is snowy. The book: Lost in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy.

This charming story is about a newborn fawn who awakes to find himself alone in the forest. He's not particularly surprised at this situation; after all, his mother told him that she needed to leave him here for his own safety and that she would be back eventually. But he's greeted with a chorus of curious woodlanders, and their chattered inquiries make him more anxious about his situation. Is he really lost, as they suggest? Did he wander so far that his mother won't be able to find him? What if she doesn't come back?

We get a very wide variety of forest life within these pages, and most animals have a distinct manner of speaking. The mouse whispers, the blackbird shouts, the owl hoots, the goslings gab. Many of them are inquisitive about this young visitor, but few offer him any very practical help. Comfort is what he needs more than anything, and he winds up getting quite the opposite from several busy-bodies who pose gloomy hypotheses as to why he where he is. However, he does receive some welcome affirmation from a frog and a katydid, both masters of camouflage, for blending so nicely into the landscape.

While the writing style is fairly engaging, the photographs are what really make Lost in the Woods a work of art. Though the backgrounds tend to be slightly out of focus and often blend into white space, where the text rests, the animals are in sharp detail, captured in moments of liveliness that complement the words perfectly. We get many close-ups of the adorable fawn, with his stylish spots, ungainly legs, wide, milk chocolate eyes and large ears. There's a chipmunk with cheeks stuffed to the bursting point, a bright-eyed little mouse hiding amongst leaves, a holly-red cardinal cocking its head inquisitively, a gaggle of goslings chattering to each other, a raccoon clinging to a branch and peeking at the spectacle below. While green is the most predominant color by far, followed by brown, we get the whole spectrum here. It's a vibrant, joyous book that makes me long for a springtime walk in the woods.

Stranger in the Woods is an excellent choice for young nature lovers, who can marvel at the exquisite photography and learn that fawns are often left alone in the woods by their mothers as a means of hiding them from predators, since very young deer have little to no scent. After they've read through the story, they can go back and reap more enjoyment from this book as they search for the small creatures listed on the final page, which are hidden throughout the preceding pages. Sams and Stoick have shown just as much skill in crafting a spring-themed book as they did with winter. Bring on summer and fall!