Perfect Picture Book Friday - Lost In The Woods, and The Birthday Contest Winners!

Last Saturday we had dinner with our daughter, son-in-law, and little granddaughter.  On our way home through a lovely late May twilight, just before we turned into our road, we saw a doe grazing right at the edge of the tall meadow grass.  The car startled her.  She lifted her head from the grass and with one graceful leap disappeared into the sheltering trees.  And oh!  Right behind her out of that tall grass came the first little fawn we've seen this year!  So tiny.  So delicate.  So earnestly intent on staying with his mama :)

So for today's Perfect Picture Book, I had to share one of my favorites.  I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do!

Lost In The Woods: A Photographic Fantasy
Written By & Photographed By: Carl R. Sams II & Jean Stoick
Published By: Carl R. Sams II Photography, June, 2004, Reality Based Fiction

Suitable For: ages 5 and up

Themes/Topics: Animals, Patience, Seasons (Spring), Trust

Opening: "The Spring frogs sing-singing with a thousand trilling voices were silenced by the rising sun.  New life came into the woods before the sun touched the tops of the trees.  He slept quietly in the tall grass on the north edge of the meadow where the trees start the forest."

Brief Synopsis:  The woodland creatures are worried that a newborn fawn might be lost.  "Mama said to wait right here," the fawn whispers.  "She will come back."  But the other animals aren't convinced and offer their advice and help.  Does the doe come back?  What do you think? :)

Links To Resources:  The book itself is a resource.  Page after page of gorgeous photographs of woodland creatures will introduce children to animals and birds they may never have seen, especially if they live in the city.  The very last page of the book challenges readers to look back through the pictures and see if they can find a number of hidden animals.  Activity pages, Lesson Plan.  If you're lucky enough to live in a rural area, go for a "deer drive" in the evening, cruising slowly along back roads, and see how many different animals and birds you can spot :)

Why I Like This Book:  I love this story!  It's simple and sweet.  On the first page where the fawn appears, he is a tangle of fragile limbs.  His spotted fur helps him blend into the forest floor.  By the last page, he has mastered those rascally legs and can be seen bounding through the meadow grass with such joy you can't help but smile at his airs above the ground.  But the best part is the photography.  It's breathtaking.  Absolutely stunning!  The fawn's fur looks like you could reach out and touch it.  You can see his eyelashes!  And there are so many other animals pictured - chipmunk, goslings, a tree frog whose camouflage is amazing!, cardinal, red-winged blackbird, raccoon, and many others.  I know I'm an animal lover (and therefore biased :)) but I think this book is exquisitely beautiful and one that anyone would enjoy!

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Now.

I know you've all been anxiously waiting for the moment when I announce the winners of the Birthday Contest.

Thank you for your patience.

And I am definitely going to tell you just as soon as I recite The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

In Middle English.

(deep breath)

"Whan that Aprill with his shoures sote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendered is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes..."

Sorry :)  I'm just fooling' with you - can't seem to help myself :)  But I won't really put you through a recitation of all 900 billion stanzas (or however many there are - it seemed like at least 900 billion when we were in 9th grade) and besides, I can only remember about 16 lines of the General Prologue :)

So anyway.  The Birthday Contest!

We had so many talented writers, and so many wonderful entries!  It was incredibly hard, but we narrowed them down to 6:

#1 A Gift Of Love by Delores
#2 A Present For A Pirate by Cathy
#3 Not Another Birthday! by Erik
#4 Birthday At The Beach by Carrie
#5 Dan's Birthday Plan by Stacy
#6 The Biggest And The Best by Anthony

96 voters weighed in with their opinions and the winners are...

duhn-duhn-duhn-duhn!!!

Third Place:  CATHY with A Present For A Pirate

Second Place:  CARRIE with Birthday At The Beach

and last but not least....

First Place and Big Winner :)  ANTHONY with The Biggest And The Best!!!

Congratulations to all of you, and to all who entered!  You were all superb and I think I speak for everyone when I say we thoroughly enjoyed all the entries and admire your hard work and bravery in entering!  Thank you all!

Anthony, Carrie, and Cathy, please contact me using that handy Email Me button on the right or, if you prefer manual labor, by emailing to susanna [at] susannahill [dot] com.  Anthony will get first choice of the prizes, Carrie will get second choice, and Cathy will get third.

Once again, the prizes on offer are:

#1- a PB ms critique by me

#2 - a 3 pack of Perfect Picture Books including Chloe, My Side Of The Car, and Z Is For Moose

#3 - a duo of craft books - your choice of 2 from the following: Writing Picture Books, The Giblin Guide To Writing Children's Books,  Save The Cat, or The Writer's Guide To Crafting Stories For Children.

#4 - a $15 gift certificate to Merritt Bookstore.

Two last things before we go:

First, the lovely Jen invited me to be part of her fabulous Let's Ask series yesterday.  If you haven't had a chance, please pop over and visit her :)

Second, remember Randy's Contest over at Author In Training, and also Delores is running a lovely Words Of June Contest which I meant to mention Wednesday, so do hop over and check them both out!

So now we can all recover from the excitement by making the Perfect Picture Book rounds :)  PPBF bloggers, please add your post-specific link to the list below.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and please tune in Monday for Oh Susanna and some exciting announcements :)