FOREST

A select gallery of woodland and pond life appears on (and behind) parallel gatefold flaps.

Gathered in broad if arbitrarily ordered groups from “Plants” and “Animals” to “Habitats” and “Baby Animals,” 36 large oblong flaps, six per spread, each feature an isolated image and a large label on the outside, with a second, somewhat broader image and a one- or two-sentence observation beneath. Several of the creatures here—even the ants—bear anthropomorphic smiles, but Coleman’s vivacious paintings of flora, fauna, and natural features are otherwise reasonably accurate. Likewise, aside from a simplistic claim that the “colorful parts of a flower are called petals,” the notes add reliable and easily grasped facts. Both here and in a co-published dive into the Ocean, from “Coral Reef” to “Deep Sea,” printed lines that are hard to make out against dark backgrounds do furnish occasional challenges to legibility but leave the visuals, which are the main attraction, unaffected.

Pleasant if scattershot encounters with the wild world for budding naturalists.