School Library Journal

Gr 3?5?A vast, yet endangered, ecosystem flourishes in this slim, elegant pictorial book. Spirin's dramatic, realistic illustrations spill over the pages, compressing Guiberson's lyrical text into bamboo-toned columns on the side. Exploding with the sounds of the boreal forest (in spring, a Tennessee warbler sings "tika tika swee swee!" while a moose "squish squosh"-es in a beaver pond), the text describes the interaction of entwined lives in this special ecosystem. (One small note?the air hole depicted in the snow-covered beaver lodge seems a tad large?a predator could gain easy entry.) Taking readers through the seasons, Guiberson and Spirin present a verbal and pictorial treasury for nature lovers and young researchers alike.?Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY