The Everything Trail
by Meg Fleming; illus. by Chuck Groenink
Preschool, Primary    Beach Lane/Simon    32 pp.
8/25    9781665924870    $19.99
e-book ed.  9781665924887    $10.99

Two children head into the redwood forest for a hike. Along the way, they collect a few more friends and together discover the marvels of fallen logs, banana slugs, ferns, and towering trees. Inviting her readers in with the almost familiar phrase—“This is the forest. / This is the steeple”—Fleming goes on to describe the plants and animals of this sensory-rich adventure in lilting rhyming text. “This is a redwood. / Look how it soars, / surrounded by sorrel / crowding the floor.” Through the tall, narrow book, redwood trunks fill the pages bleeding off the top and sides, helping to convey a sense of the trees’ majesty. On other pages, smaller panel illustrations walk readers through the diversity of the forest: “That way an eagle. / This way a bug. / Fast like a falcon. / Slow like a slug.” Groenink’s cheerful, expansive digital illustrations convey both the wonder of the forest itself, with rich greens and shafts of sunlight, and the joy of the wide-eyed multiracial cast of children as they explore and play. This forest is a holy place, and children and their families should be inspired to go outside and look for themselves.

From the September/October 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.