A WALK THROUGH THE RAIN FOREST

A stroll through a Malaysian rainforest, with a voluble tour guide to point out salient features.

As in Jenkins and White’s previous collaborations Ape (2007) and Can We Save The Tiger? (2011), the author writes as if he’s casually talking off the top of his head, and the illustrator’s photorealistic art completely steals the show. Identifying the locale as Taman Negara, the author glibly reels off all kinds of unseen but resident animals—including “sixty-six kinds of frogs (more or less),” “eighty kinds of bats (roughly),” and “goodness knows how many kinds of beetles (I certainly don’t)”—describes a few sounds, and explains how tree seeds are spread through animal poop. That all of this is printed in a hair-fine typeface makes it even easier to ignore in favor of poring over full or three-quarter spread paintings, mostly monochrome, in which every twig and bug-eaten leaf is rendered with convincing exactitude, tree trunks viewed through misty, humid light soar up beyond the frames, and in close-up views, tropical insects and tiny frogs hide amid thick tangles of ground-level stems and fronds. Larger creatures, from hornbills and butterflies to an elephant and a prowling clouded leopard, appear, too, often in pictures that have been given subdued tints like old hand-colored photographs. The author closes with a note stating that this particular forest is protected but similar habitats elsewhere are in danger, and the illustrator provides a visual key at the end to the wildlife on display. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Amiable if generalized commentary paired with breathtaking visuals.