cover image The Hidden Jungle

The Hidden Jungle

Simon Henwood. Farrar Straus Giroux, $15 (1pp) ISBN 978-0-374-33070-5

Henwood (The View; The Clock Shop) quietly but effectively contrasts the value of the natural world with that of a teeming metropolis. A young tree growing on the windowsill of Mr. Pimm's apartment improves the view considerably until it gets too big for its setting. Efforts to relocate the tree onto the roof prove unsuccessful, so Mr. Pimm transplants it to the wilds of a local park. Henwood uses a lonely and introspective hero to point out all the noise and dirt and smell that can clog up a big city. His brief--our spreads are wordless--straightforward text urges an appreciation for the environment, and then sadly shows a city's failure to respond. Readers may surmise that Mr. Pimm will visit the hidden jungle at the park, but his neighbors are still faced with the same gray, polluted outlook they've always had. Henwood's paintings of tall crowded buildings convey an almost claustrophobic feeling; a palette that combines pale, creamy pastels with bold oranges, purples and greens helps to create a strange and magnificent garden. Chunky human figures with oversized legs and feet and unexpressive faces imbue the proceedings with a sense of surrealism. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)