The Everything Trail

Twining the fantasy of an unfettered childhood adventure with the majestic reality of an ancient redwood forest, Fleming (Rock That Vote) and Groenink (Whales in the City) offer an outdoors variation on a classic children’s rhyme: “This is the forest./ This is the steeple./ Giants and saplings/ and just a few people.” As intrepid young hikers, portrayed with various skin tones, set off, the book orients vertically across the spreads to portray towering trees looming far above. Across gently textured digital illustrations, striking bird’s- and worm’s-eye perspectives follow the kids walking in cool, green shadows, marveling at dappled sunlight, and losing socks in a creek. When the kids emerge from a tunnel into a sun-drenched meadow, the book’s orientation turns horizontal, adding to a sense of “the great open wide.” With the setting of the sun, the children wave goodbye to what they consider “a forest of friends,” and one youth even ardently embraces a redwood. It all reads as an expression of hope that curiosity and wonder can transform into stewardship and care. Ages 4–8. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Jr./Folio Literary. (Aug.)