The Quiet Hunt: A Poem for Young Foragers

Pendziwol’s time-spanning verse paints an idyllic portrait of foraging as “the quiet hunt.” Opening pages begin in a period when “food came/ only/ from the wild” and foraging “nourished the hungry,/ flavored the stew and/ healed the sick.” Brief stanzas describe how “the wisdom of knowing/ which plants were safe/ and good to eat” was passed down, and emphasize benefits of an unhurried approach, proposing that foragers “took only enough/ to meet their needs.” Zipping forward to the present, narration shifts to a first-person plural celebration of the continued presence of foragers “in the gardens/ and parks of our cities,” and sensorial lines immerse readers in the magic of the endeavor (“the smell of mushrooms/ and pine needles”). Soft detailing gives Hugo’s watercolor and colored pencil scenes, of ancestors in varied cultural attire and present-day foragers, a tranquility that amplifies the text’s portrait of eco-harmony both past and present, “if you know what to look for.” Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 3–6. (Mar.)