Chipmunk Song - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 2 ``Imagine you are someone small sleeping on a bed of leaves in a cool, dark room underground.'' Taking this opening suggestion literally, just as young listeners might do, Cherry has turned Ryder's simple text about a chipmunk's late summer activities into an extraordinarily attractive picture book. The child that Ryder is addressing is shown on each double-page spread experiencing the same activities as the chipmunk. The miniature child and the animal itself climb into the sunlight, gather berries and nuts, hide from a hawk, prepare their snug burrows, and finally curl up for the long winter sleep. There is no interaction between child and chipmunk, subtly maintaining the distinction between what is real and what is imagined. The fine watercolor and ink illustrations, in cutaways below ground and at chipmunk eye-level above, are full of intriguing, accurate detail in a fresh perspective. Science, art, and imagination are rarely so well served. Janet D. French, Centennial School District Libs . , Warminster, Pa.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.