A Walk in the Forest - by Maria Dek (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published in France by Marcel & Joachim in 2015 under title: En foraet.

Book Synopsis

"... an urgent entreaty for young people to immerse themselves in the outdoors." --STARRED Kirkus Reviews

"Discover the forest in all its mysterious glory with this book." --Learning Magazine

A charming, illustrated picture book that invites young readers to discover the woods as a place for both imaginative play and contemplation.

The forest comes alive in all its mysterious glory with Maria Dek's charming watercolor images and poetic text in A Walkin the Forest. With the turn of each serenely illustrated page, young readers will follow along to collect pinecones, feathers, or stones; follow the tracks of a deer; or listen to the chirping of birds and the whisper of trees. Build a shelter and play hide-and-seek. Pretend the woods are a jungle or shout out loud to stir up the birds.

This nature-themed picture book for kids will invite them on an armchair walk of discovery through the woods, showing them that in the forest, wonders await.

Review Quotes

"A pale-skinned child crosses a blank, white page into a screen of trees, where "wonders await." Readers entering this book's varied landscape encounter similarly wondrous pictures and words. They stand in the child's shoes, enveloped by forest under a lush canopy of green leaves, looking skyward at brilliant birds darting from limb to limb. Verdant watercolor illustrations describe both the density and individuality of the myriad botanicals entwined in woods: fronds, leaves, branches, twigs, stems, grasses, and blossoms. Gentle imperative urgings pull readers into a lush, wooded embrace ("Run wild in the jungle!"; "Follow footprints. / See where they lead you"). Dek's evocative woodland pictures, earnest phrases, and unhurried pacing evoke the quiet pauses and exhilarating discoveries experienced during a walk in the forest. Inventive compositional choices and surprising, shifting perspectives keep readers alert, expectant, and fully engaged. They look from above in all-encompassing aerial illustrations; they burble underwater, examine nests, seeds, blossoms, and wild strawberries, gaze eye to eye with a fox, and survey upper branches from a bough. Deer and birds come and go across the page. Vines creep. Footprints meander. A breathless quiet falls on wordless spreads, conjuring that feeling of clearheadedness offered by nature. A startling, successful evocation of the natural world and an urgent entreaty for young people to immerse themselves in the outdoors. (Picture book. 4-8)" - Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Dek's invitation to explore the forest's magic and to leave behind civilization, vehicles, technology-even other people-feels honest and strikingly personal. Her story itself is a journey." - Publisher's Weekly

"Revel in the woods as a magical place for play and exploration. Discover the forest in all its mysterious glory with this book." - Learning Magazine

"The sensory pleasures of the woods are on display in "A Walk in the Forest," a quietly beautiful book written and illustrated by Maria Dek." - The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Maria Dek is an illustrator based in Gdańsk, Poland. After studying visual arts in London, she went on to receive her degree in illustration at the Beaux-Arts Academy of Warsaw. She has written and illustrated three books, and her illustration clients include cultural and educational institutions. A Walk in the Forest is her first book to be translated into English. 2016 will see the publication of two more of Maria Dek's books in Poland, and one in France.