Through the Forest

In a book originally published in France, the mother-daughter team of Bidet and Brocoli takes readers on several journeys through the woods with Mother Forest (“I must be at least a billion years old”) as their guide. Tabbed pages correspond to prompts within the story that let children choose the path they want to follow by jumping forward or backward in the book, instead of reading page-by-page. One story sequence includes encounters with a woodpecker and a slew of insects; going too deep into the forest forces readers to return to the beginning and start over. Bidet introduces different animals in the other paths, threading the story with details about their behavior (“Stags lose their antlers when winter ends”). Painted in bold greens, blues, and reds, Brocoli’s chunky, folk art–style graphics make this an inviting forest to get lost in. Ages 4–up. (Sept.)