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Messner, Kate

Over and Under the Rainforest

48 pp. | Chronicle | August, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-4521-6940-8 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-4521-6981-1 $11.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal. In their fourth collaboration (beginning with Over and Under the Snow, rev. 1/12), Messner and Neal explore a rainforest (the appended author's note indicates Costa Rica). This book follows the previous entries' pattern, as here a young child and adult companion hike into the rainforest, noticing what's overhead ("in the trees, oropendolas gurgle in low-swinging nests") and below ("leaf-cutter ants march in a line, carrying bits of leaves and petals back to their nest"). From a vantage point on a high hanging bridge, the pair can see several layers of the rainforest at once. They stand "eye to eye with capuchin monkeys," peer down at the bank where "sleepy crocodiles bask in the sun," and look high in the branches to watch "a soggy mother sloth and her baby sleep" through a sudden rainstorm. Lush mixed-media illustrations in shades of teal and violet vary in perspective, seamlessly shifting from sweeping aerial views to close-ups of animals, insects, and plants. When "the blue sky grows dark," the pair heads home, where Abuelita has supper waiting. Capturing the mysterious and magical beauty of the tropical biome, the book is sure to encourage further rainforest investigation. An author's note and accessible back matter provide more information about the rainforest and its inhabitants.
Reviewer: Emmie Stuart | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

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