In The Forest

In the Forest

Author: Marie Hall Ets

Genre: Fiction

Grade Level: K-2

Year Published: 1944

Summary

In the Forest is a story that is about a little boy that goes for a walk in the woods. During this walk, he meets a variety of different animals that join him as he walks through the forest. These animals include a lion, a bear, a kangaroo, and many others. After they have a picnic in the forest and all the animals hide in a game of hide-and-seek, the boy’s father comes and tells him its time to come home, and the little boy shouts goodbye to the animals that are hiding.

About the Author

Marie Hall Ets was born in 1895 in Wisconsin, and passed away in 1988. Growing up, she spent her summers in the forests of Wisconsin, which were a large inspiration point for many of her books. She attended Lawrence College, the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and other art schools. After an extended illness, she decided to write children's books.  She won the Caldecott Medal for her book, Nine Days to Christmas in 1960. This book, In the Forest, is a Caldecott Honor book. 

Source: http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/birthbios/brthpage/12dec/12-16ets.html

How to Use it

Pre-Reading: 

Talk with the class about what their favorite animal to see in the forest would be. Ask them their reasons why, and what they think that animal would do if they really did encounter that animal when they were in the woods. Encourage the students to listen to the book and see if animals would really behave the way they do in the book.

Post-Reading: After the reading of the book to the entire class, the students could get into small groups and discuss the book and what their favorite animal was. An activity that could be introduced is that the students could write their own picture book with at least 5 different animals that they would like to encounter if they went for a walk in the forest. There would be a title page, and 5 pages, each with the name of a different animal and a picture of the animal that is drawn by the student.

 

What do I Think?

I remember reading this book as a child and really loving the illustrations and the ideas in the story. The book does a great job of showing a child's imagination, and encourages the reader to think and explore their own imaginations. The students could do visualization exercises and think about how they would feel if they were "in the forest." I would definitely use this in my own classroom, and plan on doing so.