forest fires – Mom Read It

Once Upon a Forest, by Pam Fong, (Feb. 2022, Random House Studio), $17.99, ISBN: 9780593380147

Ages 4-8

A marmot tends to her garden one day and notices smoke from a distance. She and her friend, a small bird, arrive on the scene to see that a fire has devastated part of the forest, but she’s a determined friend of nature: accompanied by the bird, Marmot gets to work tending the land and replanting trees, With water, care, and patience, the forest, and the animals that live there, return. Once she’s satisfied that the nature can handle itself on its own again, the marmot returns home to discover how own garden has flourished. The wordless story centers on Marmot’s guardianship of her forest home. Drawn as a fluffy, cartoony character, her facial expressions help readers understand what she’s feeling and understand what they’re seeing. When she spies the smoke, we see her body language: back to the reader, her arms rise in surprise; she sees a helicopter fly by and dump water on the area, and turns to the reader, unsure. When she arrives at the fire site, she and the bird stand silently, eyes cast downward, shoulders slumped. She grabs her gardening tools and walks determinedly to the area, set on caring for the area. Bird flies nearby, helping where she can. Illustrated primarily in shades of gray, black and white, soft nature colors are added for emphasis: light blue for the water; green, yellow, and shades of pink and purple for flowers. The front endpapers set the stage of the story, with a smoldering campfire smoking near a fallen log; the back endpapers show the same area with new, green trees. Nature will heal, but it’s up to all of us to act, like Marmot, as keepers of the world and to live mindfully within nature. Booklist gave Once Upon a Forest a starred review and praises this story of “environmental stewardship”. Display and booktalk for Earth Day.

Visit Pam Fong’s webpage for more of her illustration.

Extreme Wildfire: Smoke Jumpers, High-Tech Gear, Survival Tactics, and the Extraordinary Science of Fire, by Mark Thiessen, (Aug. 2016, National Geographic Kids), $12.99, ISBN: 9781426325304

Recommended for ages 8-12

It can go from a spark to a flame in almost no time. It can devour homes and forests alike, leaving destruction and devastation in its path. NatGeo Kids brings readers to the front lines of wildfires, and the people – largely volunteers – who fight them, in Extreme Wildfire. Author Mark Thiessen is a NatGeo photographer and certified wildland firefighter has photographed countless fires over the last 20 years; Extreme Wildfire represents part of a lifelong project: to create a visual record of what these firefighters do.

Extreme Wildfire discusses the science behind wildfire; how firefighters battle the flames and how lookouts spot potential fires on the horizon; the equipment used in combating fire, the devastation – and nature’s adaptation – that fire leaves in its wake, and how communities come together to help one another. Chock full of facts and call-out boxes with more information, plus an emphasis on fire safety and prevention to finish up the book, this a good addition to nonfiction collections. There’s a glossary, list of resources, and index.

The kids in one of my library’s neighborhood schools have a unit on natural disasters every year. I’ve ordered two copies of this book – my Corona Kids know how much I love NatGeo books – to have available for them when the time comes around this year. It’s also a good book to have on display if you have fire safety talks. There are some good fire safety and education resources online, including Science for Kids Club and The Kids Should See This.

Photo courtesy of Chat With Vera.

Tag: forest fires

Nature recovers, with a little bit of love: Once Upon a Forest

Extreme Wildfire takes kids to the front lines of fire fighting!