The Jungle

In a hot land near the equator, a new day is beginning. Out of the morning mist a vast ocean of leaves appears. It is the roof of the jungle. What lies beneath––the varied teeming life of animals and plants––is vividly portrayed through the cycle of day and night in the jungle world. The narrative follows the sunrise-to-sunrise inner workings of a jungle, featuring stunning, layered descriptions of the smallest happenings, like the tune-up of an insect orchestra, and more boisterous, sudden events, like the rogue afternoon thunderstorm. Author and Illustrator Helen Borten artfully dips between simultaneous actions with great delicacy, and what results is a full impression of each moment in the jungle. The text is informational, yet intimate. Her illustrations skillfully appropriate both the hot and cool colors of the jungle, juxtaposed against bold and black, stamp-like forms of the terrain’s flora and fauna. The images are vibrant, beautifully complimenting a story that inspires a sense of reverence and wonder at the natural world. Considered Borten’s masterpiece by many iconoclasts, The Jungle was inspired by a trip to Guatamala in 1967, when few others were going there to seek out images and stories to share with children back in the US.


Born in Philadelphia in 1930, Helen Borten attended the Philadelphia Museum College of Art and produced the main body of her children's picture books in the 1960––books for which she received high praise, awards, and much love.