Board Book
2018

I chose Into the Forest because it doesn't look like any other books on the shelves. It is a layered book. The first page is a tiny piece of the layer, each turn of the page is another bigger layer to the book. Also, the word Into is hollowed out, and you can see a small squirrel peeking out - when you open the first small layer, the squirrel is on the first page. Throughout the book there are bumps and ridges on bushes, grass, and logs. The colors are bright but also earthy, as you would see in the woods.

In it, we meet squirrel, who has lost her Mama. She scampers past foxes, birds, bears, through grass and around rivers. She sees all the sights, sounds, and creatures of the forest. But will she eventually make her way back to her mama and her family? ( )

This board book is created by layered, die-cut pages to show a busy, colorful forest.

The first strip shows a family of playful foxes and a scurrying squirrel, looking for Mama. In the next strip, about half the book-height, the squirrel meets a bear cub and her mother. The next strip, almost full-size, introduces squirrel to a deer family as well as some frogs. The second-to-last spread shows an almost full-size spread with a family of bunnies amid a forest of popsicle-shaped trees. In the last spread, the squirrel meets her family and all the forest creatures reappear.

The colorful, simple shapes show a bright, cozy forest. Textures from dots to lines, leaf-shaped to stripes, cover the pages adding an additional sensory dimension.

The die-cut pages are thick and sturdy, although the binding is not as tight as I'd hope. Unless a kid goes waving it around by one page (which they are apt to do) it should last well.

Verdict: The text is rather bland, but the art is attractive and babies and toddlers will enjoy the sensory experience of touching the pages as well as identifying the animals.

ISBN: 9781419733543; Published 2018 by Harry N. Abrams; Borrowed from another library in my consortium