The Quiet Forest

by Charlotte Offsay (Author) Abi Cushman (Illustrator)

The Quiet Forest
Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

When a small action creates a snowball effect that disrupts the peace of the animals, the forest and a bear cub restore order once more in this delightfully funny picture book.

A mischievous mouse wanders alone in a quiet, nothing-to-do forest. Until one small mishap snowballs into a chain of outrageous events, causing the whole forest full of animals to have a very loud day indeed.

Can they find a way to bring calm and quiet back to their home?

Select format:
Hardcover
$18.99

Kirkus

At once fresh and familiar, silly and soothing.

Publishers Weekly

It's "a quiet, nothing-to-do forest," rendered in pencil and digitally colored illustrations by Cushman (Wombats Are Pretty Weird) as grassy and green, with a placid pond nestled beneath shady trees. But the almost palpable sylvan stillness is quickly interrupted by a "mischievous" backpack-wearing brown mouse who swings on to a rabbit's plate of extravagantly topped pancakes and swipes the whole dish, triggering a comic cascade of mayhem. Offsay (Challah Day!) assigns each unwitting participant an evocative italicized adjective: the rattled rabbit crashes into a bothered beaver; further down the line, a miserable moose is the result of having its en plein air painting impaled on its antlers. The now "seriously noisy" forest arouses the ire of a sleeping mama bear, but before another raucous response ensues, the forest itself intercedes with a calming, musical breeze: "Whoosh. Swish. Whoosh. Swish." Everyone regains their composure, kindness is passed back up the line, and the forest is transformed into a lively, congenial community that "isn't too loud or too quiet at all"--for the moment, anyway. For audiences that love quiet, and those that loathe it, the joyful resolution following this jolt of antic boisterousness should strike a resounding chord. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Nicole Geiger, Full Circle Literary. Illustrator's agent: Kendra Marcus, BookStop Literary. (Mar.)

Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"The use of onomatopoeia, alliteration, and repetition makes for a lovely read-aloud experience, and the many humorous details in the art... make rereading a treat."
Charlotte Offsay
Charlotte Offsay is the author of several children's books including A Grandma's Magic, Challah Day!, and The Big Beach Cleanup. When she is having a particularly loud day, she can always count on her two small bear cubs and husband to bring calm and quiet back to their home in Los Angeles, California. Learn more at CharlotteOffsay.com.

Abi Cushman is the author-illustrator of Soaked!, Animals Go Vroom!, and Wombats Are Pretty Weird. Abi is also the illustrator of The Quiet Forest by Charlotte Offsay. She lives deep in the wooded suburbs of Connecticut with her husband and two mischievous kids, who make her home very loud indeed. Visit her at AbiCushman.com.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781665926423
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Publication date
March 12, 2024
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV002000 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | General
Library of Congress categories
Mice
Picture books
Forest animals
Forests and forestry
Noise
Animal fiction
Quietude

Subscribe to our delicious e-newsletter!