A Forest Song
by Kirsten Hall; illus. by Evan Turk
Primary    Random House Studio/Random    40 pp.
2/25    9780593480366    $18.99
Library ed.  9780593480373    $21.99
e-book ed.  9780593480380    $8.99

This cento (a poem composed of passages from other writers) pays reverent tribute to the natural world, weaving together the words of poets such as Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver, Philip Larkin, Harriett Annie Wilkins, and many more. As Hall's closing author’s note explains, she began crafting these lines early in the COVID-19 pandemic, wandering the woods and recalling “the words of poets whose works I had studied in my school days.” The book opens with echoes of Edward Thomas and Robert Frost: “Into the forest, dark and deep / With miles to go before I sleep.” Sarojini Naidu’s “Here, O my heart” melds with David Wagoner’s “The forest breathes. Listen,” becoming: “Here, O my heart, just listen!” Hall’s mastery of rhythm and flow is mesmerizing, transforming the borrowed words into a cohesive and enchanting experience that stands on its own before readers encounter the back matter’s guide to “The Poets and the Lines They Wrote.” Turk’s color-saturated, light-infused illustrations bring the book-length poem to life, portraying a child with a walking stick navigating woods teeming with bears, beavers, wolves, fawns, and other creatures. Lost momentarily in the “pathless woods,” the child finds solace as the leaves “speak bliss to me.” A striking palette of teals, coppers, purples, and midnight blues immerses readers in this enchanting exploration of nature and verse.

From the March/April 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.