Log life

Amy Hevron

Book - 2024

"A nonfiction picture book that's all about the tiny world of nurse log habitats. Nurse logs are tiny ecosystems with hundreds of rare and important life forms. When old trees fall to the forest floor, they can take centuries to decompose, helping all sorts of organism for hundreds of years. They provide nutrients for tree seedlings, hideaways for small animals, shelters for the winter, and protection from the elements"--

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Subjects
Genres
Juvenile works
Illustrated works
Published
New York : Beach Lane Books [2024]
Language
English
Main Author
Amy Hevron (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 29 cm
Audience
Ages 4-8
Grades 2-3
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9781665934985
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Hevron celebrates the vibrant and centuries-spanning life of a nurse log in this spirited tribute. After the dramatic collapse of a fir tree, text utilizes a storybook-like tone as flora and fauna alike begin to call the newly fallen log home. Year one sees a "big, mushroomy party! Hooray!" in spring. "Snails vacayed in the decay" one summer a decade later; the log hosts critters big and little at the autumnal 100-year mark; and at year 500, the woody subject welcomes wintertime mammals as they "cuddled inside." Very slowly, the log is replaced by a new fir poised to repeat the cycle. Accompanying artwork highlights woodgrain textures as it collages acrylic, marker, and pencil elements, including a bevy of companionable and chatty creatures making remarks via speech balloons. The effect is at once an endearing and enlightening portrait of a log's becoming essential for a healthy forest ecosystem. A closing note sets the story in a Pacific Northwest old-growth, temperate rainforest. Ages up to 8. (Feb.)

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A picture of the long and beneficial role played by a "nurse log" in the forest's cycle of growth and renewal. A tall fir tree begins a "new life" when it falls in a storm--first as a site for a "big, mushroomy party," then as a host for carpenter ants that draw hungry birds, and then through years and even centuries to nurture new seedling trees while serving as "a soggy shelter to all kinds of critters." Hevron's airy tone ("Snails vacayed in the decay") is mirrored in forest scenes featuring mushrooms with smiley faces and cute though otherwise accurately detailed creatures of many sorts snoozing or scampering about while exchanging comments: "I'll lay some larvae here." "Me too!" "Me three!" By the time the log has disappeared (1,000 years later, a running label suggests), a towering successor stands in its place…to fall itself one day and bring the natural process full circle. Though the flora and fauna depicted here are specific to the temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest, as the author notes in the backmatter, she closes with a list of old-growth forest sites in other parts of the U.S. where readers can explore nurse log habitats. Natural history, served with a smile. (source and reading lists) (Informational picture book. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.