Where the Forest Meets the Sea: 1

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Collect some of the natural materials found in the text, and then perhaps classify the materials for a science lesson, and then proceed to makeindividual collages for an art class. I really enjoyed this story and especially loved the illustrations in the book, as they are in fact photos of handmade collages made by Jeannie Baker herself. The lifelike collages felt like an export on to a journey through an exotic rainforest and had me hooked right up to the end where I saw how, like so many other nature filled areas, are "now being threatened by civilisation". The various hidden images were also a joy the seek out. Cairns is the gateway to Tropical North Queensland, so plan a stopover at Cairns Colonial Club Resort for the tranquillity of a tropical resort with the advantages of a city location. Or take a side trip from Cairns to Kuranda into the world’s oldest continually surviving tropical rainforest with the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, to immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, smells and tranquility of the rainforest. The boy experiences a connection between past and present. What can he hear? What can you hear when you close your eyes? Which are sounds of nature? Which sounds were not there before human development?

Beautiful collage illustrations take the reader on an extraordinary visual journey to a primeval wilderness, which like so many others is now threatened. Ask students if they have read a Jeannie Baker book before. If so, does that experience help them predict anything about this book? This has always been one of my favourite illustrated childrens books. Jeannie Baker's collages of the ancient Daintree rain forest and tropical waters are vivid, as is the environmental message that her books convey. Working in pairs, discuss the role that the images play in increasing our understanding of the author's message.In this story, Jeannie Baker shows us how things change, but through the eyes of a Australian young boy. This story is based in North Queensland, Australia and we walk through a lovely, tropical rainforest with this young boy and his father- as he pretends to walk through time, past, present and future. We go from seeing extinct and pre-historic animals, to seeing the furture vast developments of green-land becoming industrialised. As we look into the future aprehenisions for the forest, we (along with the boy) are faced with the question: How much longer will this forest be here? Using different coloured markers, highlight the similarities and differences between the coast and the rainforest. Then use different colours to highlight the similarities and differences with their school environment. My father says there has been a forest here for over a hundred million years," Jeannie Baker's young protagonist tells us, and we follow him on a visit to this tropical rain forest. Using a variety of non-fiction texts, brochures (collected prior to the start of this unit) and the Internet, direct students to research the Daintree Rainforest in groups of three. Each group will have their own graffiti board to record interesting facts, post pictures and pose questions that arise during their research. In a circle, students can take turns saying something that their father (or other extended family member) says.

In the evening, we eat at Whet Restaurant in the jungle. The children’s menu has healthy, kid-friendly options and the owner, Michelle, regales us with tales of cassowaries, lightning strikes and wild tropical storms. She points out the enormous webs of the golden orb spiders, a metre in circumference. The kids are captivated by her stories and she promises more next time we visit. By 7am the next morning the kids are up, ready to ‘whet’ their appetites again. So yes, while I have generally rather enjoyed (and most definitely academically appreciated) Jeannie Baker’s Where the Forest Meets the Sea and have on an entirely aesthetic and visual level absolutely cherished the detailed and intricate collage like illustrations, in my opinion, Where the Forest Meets the Sea would probably if not even actually work much better as a wordless offering, namely because Baker's artwork is just so much more detailed and intricate than her rather sparse and in my opinion quite majorly unimaginative text (which I also tend to think rather does limit the pictures as a whole, since the fact remains that without the author/illustrator's limited and limiting narrative, there would in my opinion be much more scope for the imagination, for independent storytelling, as well as discussions concerning Australia's rainforests, their grandeur, but also the modern, mostly man-made threats they are currently facing and experiencing). Brainstorm different ways students can contribute to the conservation of the Daintree Rainforest. In groups, students are to plan a presentation of a persuasive piece to raise awareness of the plight of the rainforest. Students can use any format they wish, such as a multimedia project, a play, a persuasive letter, a speech, a poster, etc. I would recommend this book for kids from EYFS stage to year 2. There is lots of scope for discussion around this book, for example, talking about the things which the boy encounters, comparing and contrasting the boys environment to places your pupils have been, trying to find things hidden in the illustrations and considering what it would be like if the trees were cut down and replaced with buildings.By the end of the lesson students develop inferential understandings about the author’s message re: protecting the environment. Children start this session by looking at Where the Forest Meets the Sea, locating the rainforest in the book on a world map. Children start to use descriptive words and phrases to describe their own journey through the forest. After crossing the river by car ferry, we meander up the winding highway to Cape Tribulation. The teenager has a slight breakdown when he realises there’s no telephone service in the area and even the people who live in town can’t use mobiles. Creating texts – Create short texts to explore, record and report ideas and events using familiar words and beginning writing knowledge (ACELY1651)