Horn Book Review
Storytelling with a "once upon..." refrain follows the jungle food chain, from insects to predators to trees. Foldout back matter describes the pathway of natural energy, touching on producers, consumers, and decomposers. Bright, sharp-edged swaths of color, made all the more vivid against predominantly black backgrounds, create the flora and fauna. The crisp art works alongside simple prose to create a cursory ecology lesson. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A jungle ecosystem is described in words and pictures in this picture book. The story begins, "Once upon a time, there lived a jungle"the word "lived" setting the tone for the book's theme of the jungle as a living thing, and this marvelous textual precision continues. The text is succinct, with only a few words per page, and the illustrations are clean and stylized with bright colors against a black background, but their sum total is a marvel of economy, clarity, and breadth. The beginning pages tell of the ants, who are preyed on by the mantis, who in turn is hunted by the lizard, and as the story continues, the illustrations pull farther back in scope, with repeating features, such as a butterfly, to anchor them. Attentive readers will find layers of creatures and plants within the illustrations, amplifying the idea of the layered life of the jungle. As the story concludes, the text loops back to its beginning, giving readers an understanding of the circularity of the food chain. The book ends with two gatefolds, both skillful summations. One is an expansive three-page illustration of creatures that live in the jungle, and the other presents a clear, logical explanation of a food chain. The heart of an ecosystem has never been better presented for young readers. (Informational picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Featuring vibrant, striking art and spare, readable text, this offers an engaging, accessible introduction to a jungle's ecosystem and the concept of the food chain. After opening broadly, in fairy-tale fashion, Once upon a time, there lived a jungle, the text and visuals become more specific: one page spread focuses on some ants; the next features a vivid green mantis in the foreground, with the ants from the previous spread now much smaller. Each subsequent page turn advances up the food chain, all the way to an aging panther, which is ultimately consumed by beetles, which in turn enrich the soil. It all concludes with some dramatic gate-fold pages containing even more creatures and information. The straightforward, uncomplicated prose lends well to read-alouds, and the familiar refrain makes for a pleasant, cohesive tone. Boast's full-bleed illustrations of brightly colored flora and fauna pop against the pitch-black backgrounds, and the density of the scenes make them fun to search through. Taken together, the text and art gracefully illustrate the interconnectedness and cycle of life in a jungle.--Rosenfeld, Shelle Copyright 2018 Booklist
