Billed as a Dutch storybook for children. This is a book of short stories, no more than 1-3 pages each. I read the first 5-6 and thought how odd! There didn't seem to be a storyline. All of the stories have to do with animals, but seemingly there is no plot. For example, one story has squirrel and elephant sitting talking and squirrel is trying to get a secret from elephant--maybe he did and maybe he didn't!? The last line of the story: and then there was a big splash!???? Most of the endings of the story appeared as if they just stopped the story midstream or did not produce a resolution. I know that my grandchildren would not like these stories--they would have a million questions. It's perhaps that I, myself, do not like open-ended books? I'm sure I'm probably overthinking this book! 153 pages ( )

I absolutely loved this charming book about a forest full of friends quietly living out their sweet, strange little lives. It's comprised of a collection of vignettes, each one focusing on one or two of the forest inhabitants, each one not about anything in particular and utterly lacking in a progressing plot of any kind, but full of quiet intent and peaceful nuggets of comfy wisdom and tacit joy. It brought a happy handful of sunshine to my heart, and I am grateful for that. Tellegen first created these tales for his young daughter as bedtime stories, but I highly, *highly* recommend them for all ages. An absolute gem. ( )

I absolutely loved this charming book about a forest full of friends quietly living out their sweet, strange little lives. It's comprised of a collection of vignettes, each one focusing on one or two of the forest inhabitants, each one not about anything in particular and utterly lacking in a progressing plot of any kind, but full of quiet intent and peaceful nuggets of comfy wisdom and tacit joy. It brought a happy handful of sunshine to my heart, and I am grateful for that. Tellegen first created these tales for his young daughter as bedtime stories, but I highly, *highly* recommend them for all ages. An absolute gem. ( )