"The brook is a sparkling place," the narrator informs us at the beginning of this picture-book about a family of deer visiting their favorite watering hole. The simple text - a single sentence per two-page spread - is paired with lovely watercolor illustrations, depicting the deer and her fawns as they drink, and then play. In the end, the brook is still a sparkling place...

Author/illustrator Jim Arnosky is a prolific creator of works of picture-book natural history, a number of them aimed at very young children. Deer at the Brook is one of these, with a very basic text that describes the brook and its cervine visitors, and luminous artwork that captures the beauty of the scene. There is a gentle quality to this one that is very winsome. I often see the deer family that lives quite close by to the brook near my house, when out on my walks, making Arnosky's story here especially appealing to me, despite its brevity. Recommended to very young animal lovers, and to those who appreciate Arnosky's beautiful artwork. ( )

a portrayal of a mother and her two fawns(baby deer )at a brook

What a deer and her babies do at the brook.

Source: Barnes and Noble
Age: 4-5

This book was very calming with its illustrations. The pictures were very gentle. It would be a good nap-time book or a getting the day started, time to calm down book. Lesssons with this would be good about deer, or lessons or rivers, streams and brooks. ( )

Summary: This book tells what the deer do at the brook.

Personal: I thoguht this was a very cute book and can't wait to read it to Darren!

Classroom extensions: This would be the perfect book to read to a pre-k class right before nap time. It is a very soothing, soft book. ( )