Zoe and the Fawn

Little Zoe is helping her father care for their horses when she spots a fawn sheltering in an aspen grove. With the mother nowhere in sight, father and daughter embark on a search for her. Debuting author Jameson portrays Zoe as an earnest and concerned seeker, carefully considering possible mother candidates with her father as different animals appear in their path. The quest--rendered in lyrical repetition that ends happily, back among the aspens--showcases serenely spare, graphically inventive images by Flett (A Day with Yayah). Resembling cut paper, the ground is rendered as an array of tiny forest green ovals, and a scarflike rainbow trout, a study in pink and gray, leaps from a creek rendered as three teal bands. The story also includes translations by Richard Armstrong for the names of the animals that Zoe and her dad encounter in syilx, the endangered language of the Okanagan Nation. But the complex diacritical markings will be unfamiliar to many readers, and there is no pronunciation glossary or even an explanation about the language and the people working hard to keep it alive. Those who are intrigued and want to learn more will have to go on a search of their own. Ages 3-5. (Feb.)

Toddler-PreS-A young girl and her father are out feeding their horses when they discover a fawn under a tree. They set off to find the fawn's mother, encountering other woodland animals along the way. Jameson is a debut Native author from the Okanagan Nation, and the book includes Okanagan words for the animal names in addition to the English names. Fleet's illustrations use a lot of white space and create the setting through a few pieces of shrubbery and spare images of flora and fauna. The dialogue in follows a pattern. The child asks about the different animals and then repeats that they "are not the fawn's mother," which helps emphasize the new words in the text. VERDICT A fun informational title with themes of family, learning, and exploring the wondrous natural world.—Deanna Smith, Pender County Public Library, NC