In the Woods by David Elliott

David Elliott's newest poetry collection takes us In the Woods with fifteen different forest animals. 

The Animals: bear, fox, scarlet tanager, opossum, skunk, porcupine, fisher, hornet, millipede, moose, beaver, wild turkey, bobcat, raccoon, deer 

Thoughts: Another great collection for the youngest listeners and readers. I like that Elliott chose woods for the title instead of forest. All the kids I interact with refer to the forest as the woods. This will immediately make the book familiar to them. Of the fifteen animals, there was only one I had never heard of. My favorite poems are opossum, moose, and beaver. The watercolor and mixed media illustrations perfectly suit the poems and the setting. My favorite illustrations are the scarlet tanager and the bobcat. 

This book would pair well with Forest Has a Song by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and A Whiff of Pine, A Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems by Deborah Ruddell if you were sharing forest poetry with elementary school students. For storytime, I would pair In the Woods with a few of my favorite forest books like Too Tall Houses by Gianna Marino and Bear Came Along by Richard T. Morris. 

Themes: Forest Animals 

Don't miss the other books in David's Poetry Series for Candlewick! (Links are to my reviews.) 

On the Farm

In the Wild 

In the Sea 

On the Wing 

In the Past 

At the Pond (coming Spring 2021)

(Illustrated by Rob Dunlavey. Candlewick Press, 2020.)