I recently discovered Marie Hall Ets, and am working through her picture books. In the Forest is a 1944 picture book, and it is a lovely little gem.
Like Play With Me, the earlier Ets title I read, this is a small and quiet book, a book of happy isolation. In this one, a child–a little boy by appearance–has “a new horn and a paper hat” and goes for “a walk in the forest.” He very quickly encounters animals, one after another: a lion, two baby elephants, and so on. He has a brief but charming encounter with each of them, and they join him on his walk.
Each animal is a bit different, and each interaction is marked by a pleasant, dream-like detail or two. For example, one elephant baby puts on a sweater before joining the walk. More and more animals join until, as the monkeys declare, it’s “A parade!”
They eventually stop, eat, and play games…until the boy’s dad shows up looking for him. Then, suddenly, the animals are gone and the boy is riding on his dad’s shoulders, heading for home. As he leaves, he calls out an invitation to play another day.
The black and white drawings are whimsical and well-designed, and the whole book has a strong and unified voice. It all moves with child-logic. Were these stuffed animals? Was the boy really in the forest? Don’t know. Don’t care. Good book.
