The corn is ripe...and the raccoons are hungry. As the moon rises a mother raccoon and her two young begin an all night feast in a cornfield. Acclaimed nature artist Jim Arnosky gives young children an unforgettable wildlife-watching experience.
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Jim Arnosky has been honored for his overall contribution to literature for children by the Eva L. Gordon Award and the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for nonfiction. Many of his over fifty-five books have been chosen as ALA Notable Books by the American Library Association, including Drawing from Nature, a Christopher Award-winner.
The acclaimed artist and naturalist was inspired at an early age by the work of the American naturalists John Burroughs and Ernest Thompson Seton. For many years he concentrated on showing readers close-up pictures of the natural wonders found around his home in northern Vermont, where he and his wife, Deanna, raised their daughters, Michele and Amber.
Now, with both daughters married, Jim and Deanna have taken to exploring for wildlife in different parts of the United States. Wild and Swampy reflects their fascination with Southern swamplands and the creatures that live there.
On an autumn night, nature sends dry, yellow leaves and raccoons from a tree near the farm to the cornfield. The corn is ripe and the raccoons feast on the sweet kernels. The night passes, and the moon, an owl and the raccoons retreat before sunrise. Green husks, bare ears and half-eaten corn are left scattered among the fallen leaves. Arnosky's photograph-like depiction of nature allows the smallest of life-forms and the largest of natural phenomena to participate in one uniform processearth and sky, autumn winds and nocturnal animals, hunger and eating are all parts of nature's weaving. Fall colors of brown and yellow take on a softened, pastel look in the realistic night setting, and accurate details (the moonlight reflected in raccoon eyes) give readers a good picture of one night's occurrence. But a question remains: Can a stalk of corn really support a small but weighty-looking owl? Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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