The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest

Short stories certainly have a place in our society. These particular stories and poems in this anthology focused on The Green Man of lore.

“-the Green Man- the spirit who stands for Nature in its most wiled and untamed form, a man with leaves for hair, who dwells deep within the mythic forest.”

That explains it better than I ever could and that gives you a brief taste of what is to come. The variety of authors, some that I knew of some that I didn't made the book come even more alive. My favorites were Going Wodwo (poem) by Neil Gaiman, Grand Central Park by Delia Sherman, Hunter's Moon by Patricia A. McKillip, A World Painted by Birds by Katherin Vaz, Grounded by Nina Kirki Hoffman, Overlooking by Carol Emshwiller, Joshua Tree by Emma Bull, The Pagodas of Ciboure by M. Shayne Bell, and The Green Word by Jeffrey Ford. There was only one in the book that just didn't seem to fit and that was Fee, Fie, Foe, et Cetera by Gregory Maguire only because it was a re-telling of Jack and the Bean Stalk and I didn't see how it truly fit into the nature category even with the bean stalk.

I loved this book and will definitely be one I am going to keep. The variety was great and it was nice to read a good clean young adult book for a change. The editors did a fantastic job and I might even seek out more of their work! They also did a fantastic job with their illustrator. I was blown away by all the gorgeous pictures!

Off to work on more packing! We are moving but hoping to finish one more book this month! Then not sure when I'll post again!

Henry's Night by D.B. Johnson and Linda Michelin

Henry is a curious bear. He decides to go on a journey to find the night song bird also known as the whippoorwill. He's not sure where he'll find it so he goes off on a search. How long will it take? Will he ever find the whippoorwill?

Mr. Johnson and Ms. Michelin have done a fantastic job incorporating nature into this book and making it a good adventure as well. It doesn't drag out long but keeps moving at a great pace. I loved being able to spot the creatures that were on the side of the page in the picture. It was a very participatory book. The pictures were gorgeous and only helped the story come to life even more. This is one good illustrator.

My son kept asking me questions about each animal. It was a lot of fun to read. The fact that it is inspired by Henry David Thoreau made it even more fun for me. I have studied some of his work and found this book extremely fascinating and a good way to start looking at the world around us. I definitely recommend this book to any nature lover who is around children. This is a good book to use in the classroom as well. Henry is a great bear and I would love to read more of his adventures.

D.B. Johnson and Linda Michelin/ New Authors/Children's fiction/ 32 pages/ Nature/ 5 out of 5

This is another book my son brought home from school! I am learning about other authors out there and books that are so much fun to read! I cannot wait to see what he brings home from school today since Thursdays are library days!

FTC: Book from son's school library

Last Child In The Woods by Richard Louv

Richard Louv expresses in a lot of words what kids today need. Nature. At times, I found I agreed with him. Though I think he went a little overboard in making his point honestly. He used quite a few examples of people who either were environmentalists now or were involved in nature some how. He also showed examples of how nature helped in the school systems by giving kids a good handle on putting what they learn in class in practice. I was impressed and remembered how much I enjoyed getting out in nature on Earth Day to clean up around the school and down the one trail we had.

Richard Louv definitely helped in a lot of ways. I enjoyed all of what he had to say and the progress report he had since his book first published in 2005. Things have gotten better but there is definitely more that we can do. I remember when I was younger how much free time I had playing outdoors. I realize it is a different world now but I see exactly what he has in mind. People do not realize how much nature has to offer. I am definitely all for working on getting child out of the indoors and outside where true imagination can come into play.

Richard Louv/ New Author/ Non-fiction/ 390 pages/ Children/ Nature/ 4 out of 5