The author and artist Lynne Cherry journeyed deep into the rain forests of Brazil to write and illustrate her gorgeous picture book The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest (1990). One day, a man exhausts himself trying to chop down a giant
Valerio the dragon and Allegra the unicorn have always lived happily amid the majestic trees of the Ardet Forest, and in harmony with the animals that call the forest home. But one day Valerio discovers King Orlando cutting down trees to build a shelter.
In a field of lacy leaves, a small caterpillar hatches, grows, and sheds its skin, becoming a smooth, green creeper. It eats and changes some more, then in a sequence of remarkable close-ups, spins a sliken sling in which to pupate--until it finally burst