An Edge of the Forest

This was the first book I ever read to myself, when I was first learning to read. I have re-read it many times over the following 25 or so years, each time finding it as poignant as ever, but also finding new layers of meaning as I have grown up and been able to understand those meanings. This is highly recommended for all ages, especially if the reader enjoys animal stories. The unlikely friendship between the black lamb and the black leopardess is charming but also made believable by their difficulties in understanding the different assumptions of their lives. In many ways, this is a story of foreign cultures meeting and trying to get along, although the main characters are animals.

Suitable for older children and adults. A story about relationships and self-discovery, using animals as characters. Doesn't avoid harsh realities of life (deals bluntly with death) but emphasizes the triumph of a gentle spirit which somehow benefits every creature it encounters. Very well written.

--a young lamb is driven from the place of others like herself by a rabid shepherd's dog. A young leopardess & other creatures of the forest, predators & prey alike, endeavor to protect her & guide her back to her own.--a haunting story, an allegory about peaceful-coexistence that will stay w/you forever.