Having already explored the ocean and jungle, planets, the Arctic and Australia, Berkes this time focuses her “Over in the Meadow”–derived lyrics on a temperate deciduous forest.
Readers are treated to a look at a forest habitat and its more familiar denizens, including beaver, turkey, woodpecker and ’possum. As in her previous titles, there is a nice balance between math and the animal information. Berkes introduces children to the names given to baby forest animals, indicating them with italics—fawns, joeys, hatchlings, poults, chicks and kits. The number is set in a different color type, while the numeral is featured prominently at the bottom of the page. Dubin gives readers several opportunities to practice, illustrating both the baby animals and their tracks, both of which can be easily identified and counted. In addition, she hides another forest dweller on each page. Her paper-collage, colored-pencil and pastel artwork is filled with gorgeous textures that echo the natural world of the forest. Berkes rounds out the text with educational backmatter: a list of the hidden animals and a few facts, a section that reveals her artistic license, some forest facts, detailed paragraphs about each of the featured animals, the music and lyrics, notes from both the author and illustrator, activities to extend the book and resources for more information.
Formulaic? Perhaps, but none can argue with the educational value, nor the fun—what will she tackle next? (Informational picture book.3-8)
— Kirkus Reviews (January 4, 2012)
As in Over in Australia (2011) and Over in the Arctic (2008), this picture book reworks the traditional rhyme “Over in the Meadow” to introduce the animals in a habitat, here a temperate forest. The verses flow smoothly, observing 10 animal parents as they instruct their little ones: squirrels learn to leap, skunks to spray, and so on. The attractive collage illustrations offer plenty of opportunities for counting as well as observing woodland animals. The extensive back matter includes tips for using the book, notes on the animals, and music for the song.
– Booklist (American Library Assn.) (May 2012)
Every page has a surprise in this clever rhyming book about animals in a woodland habitat. From grazing fawns to dunking raccoon kits, young readers will learn the names for each woodland baby and a fun fact about it, as they count the young animals in each inventive illustration. The end of the book gives a few more facts about forest creatures and challenges readers to learn more about all woodland creatures by becoming wildlife detectives.
— Kern County Family – Tracie Grimes (March 2012)
Over in the Forest: Come Take a Peek by Marianne Berkes is such delightful book that all kids will enjoy. You can sing it with the melody provided in the back of the book to the tune of “Over in the Meadow” or just ready it however you like. I love that it teaches children counting, tips on how to be an outdoor detective, and lots of interesting facts about forest animals. You can even read about how the illustrator made her illustrations from cut paper and try it out as an art project with your kids. My kids want me to read this story over and over again, and they enjoy it every single time!
— Your World Natural – Cara Nitz (February 17, 2012)
Over in the Forest: Come Take a Peek teaches readers about the most common animals one would find in the forest. Written by Marianne Berkes in rhyme, each page features a different animal, revealing where that species typically lives in the forest and what the offspring are called. For example, did you know that a baby possum is called a joey? The story is wonderfully complemented by unique paper cut collage illustrations by artist, Jill Dubin. What I really like about this book is all the educational information included in the back. Here you’ll find more details about the animals you can clearly see in the forest and those that are often hidden. There are tips from the author about how to be a wildlife detective, suggested indoor activities to help young readers learn more about the forest and tips from the illustrator about how to do a collage. There are even lyrics to a song, written by Berkes, set to the tune of “Over in the Meadow.”
— Good Reads with Ronna – Debbie Glade (February 27, 2012)
n each two page spread of Over in the Forest, an animal parent and their children are featured. The first four line stanza introduces the parent, the children, and their habitat. Stanza two starts off with a verb related to actions of the animal. The children follow the lead of the mother. Look at the example of raccoons below:
“Dunk,” said the mother.
“We dunk” said the eight.
So they dunked and dabbled
As they ate very late.
This is a counting book, so the number of animals increases from 1-10 as you read. Jill Dubin’s collage illustrations are very engaging and will be great models if you want to try an art activity based on the book. I love that she has hidden other animals in each illustration and challenges readers to find them. Information about the hidden animals is located in the back matter.
Over in the Forest is such a smart book! Marianne Berkes covers a ton of bases with each set of two stanzas. You get information about the names of different animal babies, feeding habits, and a good lesson on using vivid verbs or writing dialogue in the space of eight verses. These poems would be great for shared reading lessons in kindergarten. I really like that each poem follows a predictable pattern which is helpful for beginning readers. I think the publisher should make this available in a big book format. In addition to all of this, the back matter contains a paragraph about each featured animal, tips from the author about looking for animals outside and a list of activities that can be done inside. Jill Dubin adds a terrific step-by-step account of how she created the illustrations. Over in the Forest would be an excellent addition to the nonfiction collection of a primary grade classroom.
The other books in the Over in the … series have PDF activities on the Dawn Publications website, so I suspect that you will see a similar set of activities in the near future for Over in the Forest.
— STEM Friday (January 6, 2012)
Much like Jo MacDonald Had a Garden and generously provided in review form from the same publisher, Over in the Forest: Come and Take a Peek is patterned after a well known childhood song, “Over in the Meadow.” Counting, nature, animal families, and animal tracks all come into play as the song progresses, illustrated by Jill Dubin and written by Marianne Berkes. Starting from one, we see mother animals with their babies. For example for the number five involves a turkey family:
Over in the forest
Where wild berries thrive
Lived an old mother turkey
And her little poults five.
“Scratch,” said the mother.
“We scratch,” said the five.
So they scratched on the ground
Where the wild berries thrive.
The animals featured are beavers, deer, possums, turtles, turkeys, squirrels, woodpeckers, raccoons, skunks, and foxes. My favorite extra in the book were the animal tracks on each page that matched the subject animals. Cultivating an interest in the natural world, as well as animals in their natural habitats, makes this a great choice for veg families. A number of pages at the end of the book act as a teaching guide useful for expanding on the lessons of the book. I know my three year old daughter was especially excited about footprints after we read this together.
Well crafted books are a treat and this definitely falls into that category. The stated age range is 3 to 8 but I imagine at each age and stage different aspects of this book will be of interest, even if your singing voice (like mine) is not always up to the task. My favorite sung version of “Over in the Meadow,” if you are looking for the song, is by Raffi.
— Vegbooks – Homa Woodrum (February 22, 2012)
Over in the Forest is definitely my favorite. I must admit that I read it to my 5-year-old and he LOVED it. The story line is consistent and age-level appropriate. It’s also very fun to find the hidden animals and look at the tracks. This is a great way to introduce animals and animal families with Pre-K-1st grade readers. I also love the artwork–this is something that could be carried over into a classroom assignment. More importantly, from a teacher perspective, this is the kind of book that you would feel good about purchasing for your classroom–one that could be used for many years.
— National Gardening Association – Rose Judd Murray (Feb. 21, 2012)
Do you know what baby opossums are called? Based on the rhythm of the folk song “Over in the Meadow,” author Marianne Berkes’s latest counting book in rhyme presents various forest animals and their offspring, from a mother beaver and her “little kit one” to a father red fox and his “little kits ten,” including a shy mother ‘possum and “her little joeys three,” all beautifully portrayed by Jull Dubin’s cut-paper illustrations. In addition to the reinforcement of learning how to count, children are introduced to the different creatures and their babies. Following the tracks of these ten woodland animals, young readers will become acquainted with how to leap like a squirrel and dunk like a raccoon. And, of course, you know what the nine little skunk kits do, don’t you?
To help make the book interactive, there is a hidden animal at each opening for youngsters to hunt and find. And to provide even more educational value, there are pages in the back with further information about the temperate forest ecosystem, the hidden animals, and the main animals pictured, along with tips from the author and the illustrator, and finally the complete song with both music and words. Over in the Forest will be a delight for young and not-so-young nature lovers. Other Dawn Publications books in the “Over” series by Berkes include Over in Australia: Amazing Animals Down Under; Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme; Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef, all three of which I have previously reviewed; and Over in the Arctic: Where the Cold Winds Blow.
— Home School Book Review – Wayne Walker (March 5, 2012)
As much as we liked the last book, I think we liked Over in the Forest: Come and Take a Peek by Marianne Berkes and illustrated by Jill Dubin even more. This picture book might be aimed at a slightly higher age range, so that could be the reason; however, I think it’s because this book did such a wonderful job of combining fun and learning.
OVER IN THE FOREST can be read to the tune of Over in the Meadow. In fact, the book includes the entire song with music and lyrics. The story shows a variety of woodland animals with cute cut paper illustrations. I loved how this book teaches children not only about woodland animals, but also the names of their young. In addition, the book counts the animals up from one to ten; and it also shows the different animals’ tracks.
The book was very cute but I was most pleasantly surprised by the ending. Each page of the book includes some surprise creatures. Booking Son loved going back and finding these hidden animals. Thankfully, there is a key in the back of the book with illustrations and explanations for each animal. I admit that I couldn’t always find the creature, but he didn’t seem to have the same issues I did.
In addition to the hidden animals, there are other great sections at the back of Over in the Forest. Once again, it’s the educational section that really makes this book outstanding. There is an explanation of what a forest is as well as details about all ten of the animals featured in the book/song. There are also some tips from the author about being a wildlife detective and there is a list of additional resources (both books and online) that will help children discover more about forest animals. Another interesting section is titled Tips from the Illustrator where she details how she went about creating the pages of this book.
I can’t stress how perfect Over in the Forest is for classrooms. It is also available in hardcover or paperback and I think both are reasonably priced. The book is fun and educational and sure to be a hit. (Booking Son said that he was afraid to take it in to his classroom because the kids might fight over the book!) The publisher has provided a few downloadable activities to supplement the book including a bookmarks and some classroom ideas.
I was extremely impressed with Over in the Forest and I highly recommend it as a fun way to learn about the forest.
— Booking Mama – Julie Peterson (February 11, 2012)
If you know the song “Over in the Meadow” and like its rhythm, you will be ahead of the game when you read “Over in the Forest” by Marianne Berkes, illustrated by Jill Dubin. If you buy it for someone who is learning to count, he or she will thank you.
Atlanta artist Dubin shows great imagination in her blend of textures and colors and tiny bits of material that bring to life squirrels, opossums, deer, box turtles and other wildlife. Berkes has fashioned lyrical text that matches the familiar rhythm and introduces young readers ( or listeners) to woodland creatures and numbers.
The book is recommeded for children, ages 3-8. Even after they learn how to count and instantly recognize the animals, more information about the animals and their habitat is included.
The experience of Over in the Forest is an enjoyment for folks of any age. Adult readers will fall in love with it as quickly as the young listener. Don’t sell it short! Look close. You’ll see more than you first expected.
— Waycross Journal-Herald – John Scott Cooper (February 16, 2012)
Marianne’s book allows children to move from passive to active learning as they count and sing and share in the excitement of each new forest animal discovery. Young readers will be delighted with every turn of the page.
— David Alexander, author, Hop Into Action, The Amphibian Curriculum for Grades K-4 (September 2011)
I’ve found a new favorite gift to give to all the young (and not-so-young) nature lovers in my life! Kids will love the catchy rhymes and colorful collages. Teachers will appreciate the accurate science, fun vocabulary and additional resources. This book is a wonderful example of using science content to enhance literacy instruction.
— Shawna Crocker, Colorado Coordinator, Project Learning Tree (September 2011)
What a darling book! Children of all ages will enjoy the delightful rhythm and engaging artwork. The hidden animals and wildlife tracks will sharpen little ones’ observation skills, getting them ready for even bigger discoveries outdoors! And the newsy wildlife information and suggested activities will transform a fun read into a learning adventure.
— Nancy Herron, Senior Associate, Children & Nature Network (September 2011)
