Cool Woods: A Trip Around the World's Boreal Forest

Winner of the Skipping Stones Honor Award in the Ecology and Nature Books category





The boreal forest is the last great forest wilderness on earth. It drapes across the subarctic right around the world. It pervades our myths and folklore. It provides us with wood and water. It freshens the very air we breathe.



Jane Drake and Ann Love take the reader on an unforgettable journey around the world to view the boreal forest. They show the reader the seasons in the bush, the science and myth of wolves, the life cycle of the woods. From the Siberian Taiga, where tigers and sika deer live, to the Old World forests of Norway, from the Boreal Shield of North America to the birch forest of Northwest Russia, we are introduced to a region of incredible importance. Despite our reliance on it, we have placed the lungs of the earth” under siege with clear-cutting, acid rain, and even radioactivity.



Cool Woods is not only informative and beautiful, but it is a call to action to anyone who cares about our planet.

Jane Drake and Ann Love are sisters and co-authors who have shared a life-long interest in the environment and the wild. Their writing for children has always had a natural history/environmental-action focus. They are interested in making children more observant of the natural world. Together they are the authors of many award- winning books, including their most recent, The Kids Winter Cottage Book. They have been short-listed for numerous awards including the Red Cedar Award, the Norma Fleck Award, the Hackmatack Award, and the Silver Birch Award. Jane Drake is one of the founding members of Pollution Probe. Both Jane and Ann are married with three children each and live in the Toronto area.



Andrew Kiss came to Canada from Hungary in 1957. He grew up on Vancouver Island teaching himself how to paint while working as a topographical draftsman. He paints wildlife, primarily birds, and has spent much of his life traveling the world to see his subjects in their natural habitats. Andrew Kiss's work has been exhibited across North America and Europe. Cool Woods is his fourth book with Tundra.

About Jane Drake