“A week after the funeral,” a boy opens an envelope his dad left for him. Rather than “a letter, some special advice, a secret even,” he finds a “stupid” treasure map. The boy reluctantly laces up his boots and stomps into the woods. There, he is able to slow down, breathe deeply, and “drink in the quiet,” as “the hurt inside [his] heart pounds less, and less.” Eventually, he finds a box which holds drawings of wildlife his dad did years ago in these very woods, along with an “unfinished story scrawled beneath each sketch.” The story is shared with readers, as are the sketches, and they are all breathtaking. And the boy feels his dad’s “hand on [his] shoulder, light as leaves.”
Written in both prose and poetry, this book is seriously wonderful. Nikki Grimes and Jerry Pinkney wanted to do a book together, and decided on A WALK IN THE WOOD, based on the artist’s daily walks in the woods. Both had “noticed the rarity of children’s books that feature African American characters engaging with nature.” When Jerry died, his son Brian, another acclaimed picture book artist, was able to take his dad’s sketches, add his own paintings—“impressionistic swirls of color and form”—and the art was merged digitally. The result is sublime. Please read it!
--Lynn
One of the best picture books of the year!
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