Once Upon a Jungle
Laura Knowles and James Boast
words & pictures
James Boast’s vibrant floral images of the jungle setting that provides a home for myriads of creatures, almost leap out at you off the pages of this book that focuses on a small number of those creatures, a few of which are just visible on the opening spread …
The straightforward, patterned text then introduces ants, a preying mantis, a lizard, a monkey, a panther that ages and is eventually broken down by roaming beetles.
Thus the soil is enriched, new seedlings thrive and eventually, become part of the jungle habitat: home to …
Simply, and highly effectively, Laura Knowles has demonstrated a food chain within this jungle ecosystem; a food chain that is further elucidated on the final fold-out spread wherein information is given about the various roles played by the sun, producers, consumers and decomposers, along with a final challenge to re-read this alluring book and identify which flora and fauna are performing each role.
As well as being an eye-wateringly beautiful book in its own right, this is an excellent way to introduce the concept of food chains to young children; in addition, it’s a book that children would (once it’s been shared with them) be able to read for themselves. They can along the way, also see how many of the jungle fauna they can spot.
I’ve signed the charter 
