Nocturnal life in the forest is brilliantly illuminated throught poems, compelling linoleum-block print artwork, and detailed notes of the subject on each double-page spread. The poetic forms are quite varied as nine creatures are featured…snail, primrose moth, great horned owl (Dark Emperor), orb spider, baby porcupette, cricket, wandering red efts (newt, salamander)…plus the oak, mushrooms, and the moon. The closing “Moon’s Lament” is in the medieval style known as an ubi sunt…that laments the loss of heroic, beautiful things.
“Where are my ghostly shadows,
my pools of of molten silver,
poured with such extravagance?
Where has it all gone-
my glory,
my radiance-
now that day as come?
Alas. Another eternity of sunbeams to wait.”
Final Glossary aides the reader with science terminology. A gem of a book appropiate across curriculums. (Listed in Boston Globe’s Best Books of the Year 2011.)