Southcrop Forest

In "Southcrop Forest", we enter into a magical mythical place in which the trees can feel, see, sense, and talk. In this amazing place we meet the lovable, adorable young oak tree by the name of Auja. Like her other friends of the forest, she is worried that the Hewmen will destroy their home in Southcrop. Then one spring day as she was taking the yearly census of the many animals that call her branches home she happened upon a remarkable sight. Auja discovered that the colony of caterpillars were no ordinary colony but the long forgotten legendary Runes. The trees of Southcrop decide that they must enlist Furs help to save their home. Auja then has to convince Fur to leave the safety of her branches and carry the gems of the forest to the far away Riverside Farm. Starting out with a colony of over 250 crawlers Fur must engage in the fight of his life. Connected to Auja and the other trees of Southcrop by what is known as Southcrop vision, Fur embarks on the long and dangerous journey. Losing crawlers along the way to the elements, predators, and Hewmen Fur finally crosses the Hewmens bridge. Now with only a colony of 18 he has finally completed his promise to Auja. Fur and his colony can now finally spin their cocoons. Lorne Rothman has created a brilliant novel that sheds a new light on the plight of forest devestation. Writing "Southcrop Forest" for a young set of readers Rothman is sure to entertain and educate. "Southcrop Forest" is a book that should be read by all school age children and adults alike. With lyrical content and an in-depth conclusion of notes by the author one cannot go wrong with reading "Southcrop Forest".

Every once in a while a new book comes along that resets the compass of writing. Lorne Rothman's tale, Southcrop Forest, sets a new standard for ecological literature. An exciting tale about Auja, a young red oak, and Fur-- a collective conscience from a colony of tent caterpillars--Rothman has created an eco-fable as magical as a Tolkien adventure even as he teaches forest ecology. We learn about the imperiled state of the forests at the hands of "hewmans." Auja lives in Southcrop Forest where trees retain the ability to communicate across the land through their roots, soil, and leaves--Southcrop Vision. Forests were once connected across the world and could communicate by feeling each others sensations. That was before the hewmans cut down the trees, separating forests by false rock (roads or highways) and their rapacious machines chewed down ancient trees and killed the farms that had kept them alive for eons. As the story opens, we learn that Southcrop Forest is on the verge of destruction. Auja awakes full of hope and joy, glorying in the sunlight, when the remembrance of their doomed future makes her boughs droop. She is watching a group of fuzzy caterpillars nibbling away in her canopy when suddenly a voice speaks to her! At first Auja thinks it is her fellow trees who whisper continuously but then she realizes the voice is coming from the colony of tent caterpillars. Fur introduces herself to Auja and explains that her colony is a Rune--an ancient being that arose at a Gathering of trees and people a thousand years before. Guide Oak, a wise being, guides Auja to engage Fur to travel to the Dark Forest (Boreal Forest) to obtain a special gift and take it to Deep Sky where it will save the forests to the north of Southcrop. And thus, the epic journey begins. Along the way readers learn about the life cycle of the tent caterpillars, their viral and insect predators; the ancient geological history of the land and how trees repopulated the earth after the Big Ice (ice age.) The mysterious "gift" is the Holy Grail Fur toils to find. He must cross the false trails, battle rogue wasps and a viral plague that infects the forests he travels through. Rothman, a zoologist, provides young readers with endnotes rich with scientific nomenclature; Old Norse lore; Native American history; chemistry and climate change science which can be easily used in a classroom or enrich the understanding of young and adult readers alike. This book offers the reader a blend of the magical with the hard realities of the human ecological footprint on the natural world. Through nonhuman characters we see the folly of the "hewman" (a brilliant play on words) from wisdom that understands the web of life as the source of life itself. The last sentence in the story makes me believe Rothman plans a sequel. I hope so. Southcrop Forest should be required reading for all youth--a textbook and a legend for a new generation and an ecological age.

This is one of those books that is too short, and it is sad when you finish it. The story line is intriguing, the characters are charming, and the emotions are just right. The development of "Fur" from inquisitive child to careless adolescent to responsible adult is perfect, if a little rapid. Will there be a sequel?

This is one of the most unique works for young people I have read for sometime now. It is a bit difficult to place a tag on this one as it incorporates several genres into one work. First it is an epic fantasy; a quest, if you will. Second, it is a very well written work addressing ecology, or as we use to call it, "natural history." There is adventure and quite fast moving adventure to be sure. The method the author uses is what I refer to as mythological story telling, much as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used in his epic poem Hiawatha. I am also reminded a bit of Tad Williams' wonderful book, Tailchaser's Song. This is the neat hook the author uses to catch the reader. While engrossed in a delightful tale of adventure, danger, "monsters" and mayhem, the reader is being completely filled with wonderful scientific facts, being taught wonderful facts concerning our environment and facts concerning a plethora of plants, animals, birds, insects and the like. So much knowledge here... and it goes down so easy! This is quite impressive. The basic premise of the story has already been outlined in other reviews quite well, but briefly, there is a small forest in the northland that is in trouble. It has been cut off from the vast aboriginal forest that once covered most of North America. Survival is slim. At rather young oak tree, Auja, finds living amongst her branches a strange creature, a creature that has not been seen for over a thousand years. Surprisingly, Auja is able to communicate with this strange being. This information is passed to the other trees in Auja's forest and since the trees cannot move, but the creature, whose name is Fur by the way, can. Fur is sent on a quest of great importance and of survival to other parts of the original forest from which contact has been cut off. The adventure of Fur, the teaching of Fur, is a central part of this story. This book is quite well written with a very readable syntax. The only slight problem I found with style was that it is simply a bit different. The targeted reader for this work probably may not appreciate the author's abrupt sentence structure, and it will more or less pass right over their heads. This is not their fault; they simply have not read enough books by the age of 15 or so to really "get it." That does not really matter though, as the story is what counts here and not so much style. The author uses short, abrupt sentence structure and tries to catch the "feeling" of the different species of trees, and critters, as they speak. Oaks talk one way, Maples another. He does this quite well but again, I am not sure if the younger ones will catch this as they should. On the other hand, I love Victorian Literature, and feel Tom Brown's School Days was one of the best books ever written. I love long, complicated and run on sentences, so what do I know? This is a good read and is made even better because the young ones will actually learn a lot and enjoy a good st

Reviewed By Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (11/08) Lorne Rothman has created imaginary characters from our environment to capture the attention of the reader and to alert them of man's threat on our ecology today. "Southcrop Forest" is an intriguing fictional account of Auja, a young red oak and Fur, a legendary tent caterpillar. Pollution, the lumber industry, and highway construction have all left an impact on Southcrop Forest. In this fanciful story the trees are able to converse and have other unique gifts including Southcrop vision. Isolated from other forests and concerned for their fate, they are desperate to contact the trees at Riverside Farm with their secret before it is destroyed. The story takes place in an actual forest setting in southern Ontario and is a mix of myth and fantasy. Fur is recruited to take the secret of the South crop vision to Riverside Farm. After a Gathering of the trees in Southcrop Forest, Fur's route was determined and the plan began to take form. Fur was to follow the Rapid Trail, going north through the forest to Riverside Farm. Then he would cross Oak River. As Fur crawled along toward his goal, he was attacked by a Rogue wasp and driving rain. He was crushed by rollers and preyed upon by swift flies, and birds. He was distracted by a Mosquito hawk and got lost and was terrified by the dark green forest. In time he too received the secret of the Southcrop Forest vision and the unique insights it afforded. Rothman used dialog between Auja and Fur to introduce lessons in history, stories of explorers, traders, and the logging industry. Fur learned of the greed of hew-mans as destroyed the forests without thought or concern for the future. The story is intriguing, inspiring, and enlightening. The author's notes at the end of the book are a very valuable source of informative. Rothman introduces background material on various trees, birds, earth sciences, and nature studies. The book gives a fresh understanding and appreciation for the importance of ecology and motivation for taking steps to save the environment. "Southcrop Forest" by Lorne Rothman is an ideal book to incorporate in a family night time of reading aloud. There is something for every age. It is also an ideal resource for the elementary school reference library and for supplementary reading in the home school classroom. - Reviewed by Ian McCurley (age 14) for Reader Views (8/08) The story begins when Auja, a young oak tree in Southcrop forest, discovers mythical talking caterpillars called runes in her branches. Due to the fact that humans are slowly destroying Southcrop forest, the trees decide to send the rune, named Fur, to the north. With him, they send their greatest discovery. It is something called Southcrop vision which gives the trees the ability to use each other's senses. Fur, a single being emerged from a colony of caterpillars, has a very slim chance of actually reaching his destination. He will have to face lar