Springtime in the Forest By Edward Alan Kurtz Copyright 2015 Edward Alan Kurtz Illustrations: Š Annnmei | Dreamstime Photo Stock Agency ePub ISBN: 978-1-910370-72-8 Published by Stergiou Limited Suite A, 6 Honduras Street London EC1Y 0TH United Kingdom Web: http://stergioultd.com Email: publications@stergioultd.com All rights reserved
About the author
Edward Kurtz is an American writer. He specializes in writing works of fiction and nonfiction for children, as well as travel books and articles. Ed was born in Pennsylvania and completed several university degrees. He lived for many years in Honolulu, Hawaii, and now lives and writes in Thailand. Books published by Stergiou Limited • Max and The Map - A retelling, in a very simple and fun way, of Homer's Odyssey. • Christmas in the Forest - how a village full of people are looking to find a special tree to decorate at Christmas.
Synopsis It's springtime in the forest and the animals are getting ready for Easter. But there's a big problem: “Big River” is too high. Some of the animals like Oscar the Otter and Megan the Mink have lost their homes. The forest animals ask the people from the nearby village to help them find out what is causing this problem. What will they find downstream? Join Wendy the Warbler, Sebastian the Squirrel, Wally the Woodlark, and William the Woodpecker as they seek help from wise old Olivia the Owl in this delightful sequel to “Christmas in the Forest!”
Contents Page title About the author Synopsis Chapter One: The Snow Melts Chapter Two: Buds on the Trees Chapter Three: A Walk through the Forest Chapter Four: Down by the River Chapter Five: The Big Contest Chapter Six: Ronald the Rabbit and the River Chapter Seven: The Big Lake in the Forest Chapter Eight: Under the Old Pine Tree Chapter Nine: In the Village Chapter Ten: A Happy Easter!
Chapter One: The Snow Melts Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful and special forest. It was full of many different kinds of trees: some were tall and some were short. Some lost their leaves over the winter, and some were evergreens. The needles of these pine trees stayed green all year long. In the winter, these green needles looked very nice when there were no leaves on the other trees, and when there was some snow on the ground. The biggest and oldest tree in the forest was an evergreen, a pine tree. It was tall and it was home to some of the forest animals. Under the tree was a special place where many of the forest animals came to enjoy the shade of the old pine tree in the summer. And the soft needles on the ground under the old pine tree made it a comfy place to rest and talk with friends at any time of the year. So it came as no surprise to anyone who knew
about the old pine tree that many of the forest animals were very upset when the people from the nearby village wanted to cut down the old pine tree to use as their Christmas tree in the middle of the village. “Who could ever forget what we went through this past Christmas?” asked Wendy the Warbler. Wendy was one of four animals who lived in the old pine tree: they were good friends. She and her three friends were sitting in her living room enjoying some tea and cakes. Wendy had a house high up in the old pine tree, and so did Wally the Woodlark, William the Woodpecker, and Sebastian the Squirrel. Each of these four animals had built a house in the tree. Each animal had a favourite colour. Wendy’s favourite colour was pink, so the front door of her house and everything inside was pink. She was known for being smart and kind and helpful. Wally loved blue, so the front door of his house and everything inside was blue. The inside of his house was quite cluttered: Wally was a very disorganized and forgetful bird!
William’s special colour was purple: his front door and all his furniture was purple. William was a very active and energetic bird as you can imagine, with all that fast pecking he did in trees to find things to eat. He had pecked a hole big enough for his house; and later he pecked a hole further down the tree for Sebastian’s house. And finally Sebastian, being a squirrel, was grey, so the front door of his house and all the things inside, were grey, his favourite colour. Sebastian was known for being curious and a wee bit nosy, so he often came back to the old pine tree with news to share with the others. And that’s how they found out about the disaster that almost happened at Christmas time. “Wendy, what did we go through?” asked Wally as he nibbled on some sweets. He wasn’t paying very close attention, as usual. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Wally!” impatiently answered William. “Our old pine tree almost got chopped down!” “Oh, that,” said Wally. Wally’s house wasn’t the only thing that was cluttered: so was his mind. He
was so disorganized and wasn’t always thinking very clearly. “I had almost forgotten about that.” “How could you forget this past Christmas?” asked Sebastian. “The villagers almost chopped down our tree. They trapped us in cages and took us far away. When we got back here, they tricked us and threw nets over us. We almost lost our homes!” “Yes,” said Wally absent-mindedly. “Of course I remember that.” He continued nibbling but he had soon stopped paying attention. “We were so lucky to have Olivia to help us, weren’t we?” asked Wendy. Olivia was a wise old owl who had flown into an open window in the church of the village at Christmas time. There she had listened to what the villagers had planned. Eventually all the animals in the forest heard about the villagers’ plan to chop down the old pine tree, and many of them came to help save the tree. “Yes,” answered William. “And do you remember how many of our friends and neighbours came and helped us?”
“Cherry the Chipmunk came,” answered Sebastian. “And Megan the Mink and Steven the Snake.” “Yes, and Daisy the Deer and Oscar the Otter and Faith the Fox,” added Sebastian. “And of course Olivia and the four of us,” said Wendy. “And Olivia’s solution was so perfect!” “Yes, it certainly was,” said William. “What solution?” asked Wally. Wally wasn’t stupid: he just faded in and out of the conversation, but it sometimes irritated his friends. “Pay attention!” answered William. “She suggested that the villagers and the animals work together to decorate the old pine tree. That way the tree wasn’t cut down; everyone could enjoy the beautiful Christmas decorations; and we didn’t lose our homes.” There was a pause in the conversation and just then they heard a noise outside. “What was that?” asked Wally.
“Oh, I know,” answered Wendy. “That was some snow sliding off an upper branch and hitting my roof.” The sun was shining brightly. The sky was blue. The weather was warming up. And the snow was beginning to melt. “We also won prizes for the decorations on our doors,” said Sebastian. “Let’s not forget that.” “Yes,” added William. “A four-way tie, the first time ever. Each one of us won a prize.” Suddenly Wendy sat up very straight in her chair. “I have an idea,” she said with great excitement. “Let’s decorate our doors for Easter!” “What a great idea!” said Sebastian. “Maybe we can tell the other animals in the forest,” added William. “We could have a contest, just like at Christmas time,” said Wally. The three other friends looked at him with their mouths open wide.
“You were listening!” said Wendy. Wally smiled and the three others laughed. Then they began to make plans for their new idea to have a contest for “Best Decorated Door for Easter.”
Chapter Two: Buds on the Trees After the long cold snowy winter most of the animals were eager to go outside and get busy with springtime activities. Everyone was happy to see that tiny buds were starting to appear on the trees and the shrubs in the forest. There were several streams and rivers in the forest, and, as the snow melted, the rivers began to fill up as they ran through the forest. “Spring is in the air!” said Wendy. It was the next day and she and her three friends were on their way to visit the other animals in the forest to tell them about their Easter contest plan. “Yes, it’s so nice to see a little colour here and there as the buds start to appear on the trees,” added William. “Who, who, who are we going to visit first?” asked Wally. He was making a joke about Olivia the Owl and how she often spoke. “Yes, that’s right,” said Sebastian. “We need to
talk to her first because she’s the wisest animal in the forest.” “I hope she agrees to be the judge for the contest,” said Wendy. Olivia lived in another tree across the forest from the old pine tree. Her front door was white to match her soft white feathers. Owls sleep during the day and are active at night, so the group of four friends hoped they wouldn’t upset Olivia by knocking on her door during the day. “Who? Who? Who?” asked Olivia from inside. “It’s us,” answered Wendy. “Wendy, Wally, William, and Sebastian.” Olivia opened her door and yawned. She held her feathers in front of her eyes because the sunlight was very bright. “We’re so sorry to bother you, but we need your advice,” said Wendy. “Oh, very well,” said Olivia. “Come in. I wasn’t sleeping all that well, so I might as well put on the kettle and we’ll have a nice cup of tea.”