WEST COAST WILD RAINFOREST

A lushly illustrated introduction to the ecosystem of the American Northwest’s coastal rainforest.

Focusing on the role of spawning salmon as a keystone species—they’re eventually a food source for the trees as well as the local insects, bears, wolves, and bald eagles—Hodge lays out in measured tones a web of cycles and interrelationships, from Douglas squirrels that help to spread conifer seeds by gnawing on cones, to wolves that make their dens in hollows beneath gnarled roots, to fallen trees that become “nursery logs” for new seedlings. In keeping with the titular theme, an Asian-presenting family appearing at the beginning and the end are the only human intrusions in Reczuch’s cool, green forest scenes; mostly she offers close-up portraits of characteristic flora and fauna depicted in fine, accurate detail amid misty glimpses of sturdy trunks, leafy glades, and clear, rocky streams. The afterword offers a nod to the Indigenous stewards and other conservationists who have led the fight in British Columbia against indiscriminate logging, but the beauty of these old-growth forests and the ecosystem that sustains them comes through clearly enough to make a compelling argument for preserving them.

Solemn, respectful, and informative, with art worth lingering over.