A WALK IN THE WOODS

A WALK IN THE WOODS by Nikki Grimes. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney.

Wow, I have been reading some lovely fall books the past few days! The first one I'm going to share is a picture book titled A Walk in the Woods written by Nikki Grimes and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney. (More on our illustrators in a minute!) A Walk in the Woods is not specific to the fall season. However, it has to do with death and time spent in the woods.

This moving picture book opens up with a boy looking in the mirror at himself. He is angry, because it's his father's eyes staring back at him, his father that has just recently died and been buried. Opening a letter that his dad left for him, the boy is sent on a walk in the woods to seek something his father hid for him. The woods are a special place where the two of them spent a lot of time together, so the boy is not looking forward to entering this hallowed space. But this place is exactly where the boy needs to go.

If you are not familiar with the wonderful illustrative work of Jerry Pinkney, you will want to be. His work is amazing. A Walk in the Woods is impressive as well, but not in Pinkney's usual style. Jerry Pinkney actually passed away during the illustrating of this book. He completed all of the tight sketches for the manuscript. Jerry's son, Brian Pinkney, who is also an illustrator was asked to finish the work. (How interesting is that when the entire theme of the book deals with loss, specifically that of a son losing his father.) The pictures are swirly and not as defined as usual as you can see from the front cover. This gives the book an air of the loss and mixed up feelings we often encounter after losing a loved one.