Here, Cherry offers lovingly rendered double spreads depicting the flora and fauna surrounding (and living in) this tree that reaches up to the forest canopy as well as simply stated reasons for preserving the forest. The message is delivered by animals of the forest to a sleeping woodsman whose task of cutting down the tree has been interrupted by a nap--a device that makes the plea more poignant but which is based on the unlikely assumption that the threat to the forest would come from a single man with an ax. Endpaper world maps contrast the rain forest's present and original ex. tent. An attractive environmental brief.

In this breathtakingly beautiful picture book, Cherry combines illustrations that reveal a naturalist's reverence for beauty with a mythlike story that explains the ecological importance of saving the rain forests. The text is not a didactic treatise, but a simply told story about a man who falls asleep while chopping down a kapok tree. The forest's inhabitants--snakes, butterflies, a jaguar, and finally a child--each whisper in his ear about the terrible consequences of living in ``a world without trees'' or beauty, about the interconnectedness of all living things. When the man awakens and sees all the extraordinary creatures around him, he leaves his ax and ``walks out of the rain forest.'' A map showing the earth's endangered forests and the creatures that dwell within ends the book which, like the rain forests themselves, is ``wondrous and rare.'' Ages 4-8. (Mar.)

K-Gr 3-- Exhausted from heat and exertion, a lone man rests at the base of a Kapok tree that he is intent on felling. As he dozes, the animal residents of the enormous tree come to him, explain the tree's vital importance to their existence, and gently implore him to reconsider his labors. Lastly, a child of the Yanomamo tribe begs him to ``please look upon us all with new eyes.'' He awakens to the menagerie assembled and seems to see them for the first time. The man departs, leaving his ax behind. This thinly veiled nature and conservation lesson succeeds in giving a simplified picture of the rain forest--from its canopy to its dense understory--and the interdependence of all the plant and animal life that exists within this fragile, shrinking ecosystem. Cherry's rich colored-pencil and watercolor drawings fairly buzz with life. She totally engages readers' attention and senses through vivid detail, dramatic perspective, and lifelike accuracy. The flora and fauna of the lush, steamy Brazilian rain forest seem to grow before readers' eyes, surrounding the text and the peaceful young man as he sleeps. Although the talking animals somewhat diminish the power of the message and undermine its seriousness, The Great Kapok Tree gives young readers a glimpse of and a feeling for an environment vastly different from their own. Spectacular endpapers include a map of the world's tropical rain forests and the amazing array of Amazon wildlife.-- Luann Toth , School Library Journal