GIVEAWAY: SOUTHCROP FOREST with Lorne Rothman! Childrens BK

Title: Southcrop Forset
Author: Lorne Rothman
Author Website: http://www.southcropforest.ca
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: Indie/Children/Fiction/ Ecology/Science
ISBN: 978-0-595-49588-7
Length: 170 pages
Reviewer: Sassy Brit
Alternative-Read.com

Auja, a young oak, discovers that humans are trashing their world and without help from someone, the forest of Southcrop will wither and die. In her leaves, she comes across a crawler (caterpillar) not seen for thousands of years. He calls himself Fur. For Auja, and the future of her forest, Fur is the answer to their dreams. But it's a long, tough and dangerous world out there for such a meek, little thing that is both a single intelligent being, and a whole colony of caterpillars at once. With the help of the trees' Southcrop Vision, they are able to communicate with each other, and help Fur on a quest he must undertake to save the forest. He must reach Riverside Farm before it is destroyed to pass on the knowledge of the trees, and a special gift, of which even little Fur does not fully understand at the time. Nor does he realise how special he is.

Southcrop Forest is one of those books that I kept stopping to say to my husband, "Did you know...?", which I know is very annoying when you are not the person reading the book, but I just can't help myself sometimes, and I needed to share this as I read! It's cleverly written, in that is is a story about a Tent caterpillar on a mission, talking trees that can communicate with Southcrop Vision, and other insects, birds and animals - each with their own distinct personalities. I could easily picture this as one of those cute animated Disney films, where they try to keep the cartoon characters true to their natural characters, but with the additional "human" ability to talk and act cute at the same time. Not always as easy to do in a book and can sometimes come out very forced, but not in Southcrop Forest. Yet, with all its cuteness, it is also sad, and acts as a huge slap in the face - a reality wake-up call - where the message is clear - we are destroying our beautiful and wonderful Earth. As you know, we need trees, they reduce carbon dioxide and give us oxygen, and like all the tiniest, seemingly insignificant creatures that surround us, they all have a purpose and play a big part in our survival. What are we doing for them? 

This book is a must for anyone interested in nature, ecology and the environment and, of course a fun read about the interdependence of various life systems in our world. It's not all cuteness and smiles, nature has a terrible way of being cruel to be kind when it comes down to survival of the fittest. Does Fur complete his quest, and fulfill his dream of flying high up in the sky near the warm sun? I'm not telling. You'll have to read it to find out.

Also reviewed at

• GoodReads
• FantasyBookReview.co.uk
  

If you are interested in winning a copy, we have two print copies to give away, please see below.

Giveaway Details

Open to UK/International entrants. Closes Friday 20th February 2010. Winner will be announced Monday 22nd Feb.

1. To enter - please follow the AR blog (publicly) 
2. Leave a comment for the author here.
   
3. Make sure you also leave your email address too.

That's it. Good luck! As usual you may comment  Tweet, Digg , add this comp to your blog, sign the AR Guest book! etc, just come back here to let me know you have - for extra entries.Thank you!

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