Synopses & Reviews
A red-headed boy sets off on: "One path, / a stick for a staff" and soon encounters "Two birds, / daybreak's words". On his journey, he finds bugs, worms, nests, tracks (and a mystery!), stones, flowers, vines, and "Ten trees, / whose innumerable leaves / clean the air / for everything that breathes". It is here that we see what this book adds up to: a close look at a particular place that reveals the child's interconnection with the woods and with the world. This unusual book beckons lap-sitter and reader alike to discover the joy of seeing, as well as counting, all that lies along their own paths. The wonders of this path are identified in notes on the final page. Through the lyrical text and inviting photographs, poet and photographer have composed a hymn to Olson's homeplace, a hundred acres in Appalachian Kentucky. Any child's homeplace can become the setting of a counting book -- and indeed, making of such a book is a pleasure most young people enjoy. They need only open their eyes, indoors or out.
Review
Taken as either a counting book or a meditation on nature's wonder and beauty, this striking volume successfully.... Reminds us to look closely at the living world before us... poetic text is starkly simple... with color photographs providing and echoing rhythm and quiet observation. (New Orleans Times-Picayune, August 1998)
Review
An encounter with beauty, reinforcing the idea that the life cycles of the natural world are something to cherish. (Five Owls, Spring 1998 -- Starred new book of merit)
Review
Counting books just don't get better than this. (Scripps Howard News Service, May 30, 1998)
Review
From ONE path to TEN trees, this book leads children on a quiet look at the wonders to be found in the forest. What will really appeal to children reading this book are the beautiful photographs that will have them feeling that they are on a walk in the woods. . . A good addition to any counting book collection, this one brings a bit of spring indoors. (Winston-Salem Journal, April 5, 1998)
Review
Celebrate the beauty of nature with a counting poem set in the woods. (Sesame Street Parents, September 1998)
Review
The lyrical text and crisp color photographs of this beguiling counting book invite readers to look closely at the natural world. . . . Olson's photographs . . . will delight nature lovers of any age. Teachers and parents seeking to help children appreciate the simple beauty to be found on a walk through the woods will treasure this exquisite book. (Publishers Weekly, February 23, 1998 -- Starred Review)
Review
Well-known author Lyon has collaborated with her friend, photographer Ann Olson, to create a gem of a counting book that will have multiple uses. The poetic text . . . is beautifully complemented by the color photographs. . . This is a deceptively simple book, but it will be used over and over as readers of a variety of ages make new discoveries on its pages. (Booklist, March 1, 1998 -- Starred Review)
Review
A book organized around a counting theme features crisp, close-up photograph-in colors so vivid, they hardly seem real-to celebrate the beauty of a forest in Kentucky. . . Neither a true counting book, nor a strictly informational book, nor a story, this succeeds in all its riveting detail as a tribute to a place that both author and photographer hold dear. (Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 1998)
Review
A short poem illustrated with stunning full-color photographs, this counting book is a simple lesson in ecology that reminds children of the importance of green space. . . Lyon's lyrical voice is concisely interpreted by lush photographs of the Kentucky woods. Vivid greens, the trickle of the creek, the moist woods, all come to life in these pictures. . . Not just another counting book, this one will enrich most collections. (School Library Journal, April 1998)
Synopsis
Uses rhyme to enumerate and describe natural objects seen while walking through the woods.
About the Author
George Ella Lyon, a prize-winning author and poet of more than twenty books, has many accomplishments to her name. While the Kentucky native is known mostly for her children's books, her work reflects her great versatility. She has authored fifteen picture books. A poet, she recently wrote Counting on the Woods (DK Ink, 1998), which Booklist, in a starred review, called "a gem of a counting book." She has also written three novels for children. With a Hammer for My Heart (DK Ink, 1997), hailed by The Alan Review as "a powerful novel, compelling, engagingly written, with strongly painted characters," was her first novel for adults. She has also written two plays. Her most recent picture book for DK Ink is Book, illustrated by Peter Catalanotto, it was hailed as "beautiful in spirit and presentation" by the Houston Chronicle. After graduating from Centre College with a degree in English, Lyon received her master's degree in English from the University of Arkansas and her doctorate in English Literature and Creative Writing from Indiana University. She wrote her dissertation on Virginia Woolf. She now resides in Lexington, Kentucky with her husband and two sons. Both an author and a teacher, Lyon has been a Writer-in-Residence at Centre College and also taught in the English Program there. She works with students and teachers on writing, and she teaches at the Appalachian Writers Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School. Her author appearances have included speaking engagements at the International Reading Association conventions, as well as at various library and educational conferences. Lyon has written for many magazines, including The New York Times Book Review, The American Voice, Appalachian Journal, Appalachian Heritage, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Language Arts (Interview), The Horn Book, Book Links (Interview)½ Ohio Journal of the English Language Arts, and Library Talk (Profile). The honors and awards she has received for her work are many. Her Catalpa, a volume of adult poems, was chosen as the Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year; Borrowed Children, a novel for children, won the Golden Kite Award (SCBWI); Basket was the winner of the Kentucky Bluegrass Award; Comes a Tide, a picture book, was chosen as a Reading Rainbow Feature; and Mountain won the Lamont Hall Award. George Ella has a new picture book, One Lucky Girl, illustrated by Irene Trivas, also published by DK Ink. Ann W. Olson lives an hour and a half away, near Olive Hill, Kentucky. Long-time friends, she and George Ella Lyon have also collaborated on a photo-autobiography of the author, A Wordful Child.