The Dancing Deer and the Foolish Hunter
By Written and Illustrated by Elisa Kleven
Dutton, $16.99
ISBN 0525468323

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Doe, a deer, a dancing deer

John Muir once wrote, "Whenever we try to isolate anything in the universe we find that it's hitched up to everything else." Muir's words form the inspiration for Elisa Kleven's delightful tale of a dancing deer who teaches a silly, greedy hunter a thing or two about nature and life.

One day a young hunter spies a deer dancing joyfully in the forest. "Great gumballs -- my fortune is made!" he cries, determined to sell her to the circus to make money.

It will come as no surprise to young readers, though, that when the hunter brings the deer home, she sits miserably in the corner and refuses to dance to the radio, which is blaring loudly, "Crispy-wispy chips galore! Buy some now! You'll want some more!"

As the deer patiently explains to the hunter, to dance she needs the sweet singing of birds. And so the hunter tries, one by one, to take out of the forest the very things that together make nature so wondrous.

Of course the hunter's attempts to make the deer dance in captivity are doomed. The birds will not sing without the whistling pine trees, the pine trees will not whistle without the sea breeze and the sea breeze cannot blow without the salty sea to move it. At each failure, the hunter becomes more and more frustrated. No matter what he does, he cannot get the deer to dance. Finally the deer tells him, "Just put me back in the deep green forest, along with everything else, and I'll dance all by myself!"

"But if I put you back, you'll run away," says the hunter. "And I won't be able to sell you to the circus."

Needless to say, the clever deer has a solution to this problem, too. But you'll have to read the book to find out what it is.

The Dancing Deer and the Foolish Hunter is a clever, cumulative tale filled with lively collage art and great humorous touches. (Kids are sure to laugh out loud when the foolish hunter tries to re-create the sea by plopping fish sticks in a bowl of sea water.) Just right for story time, this original tale introduces an important environmental message. But perhaps more importantly, it will leave young readers with the urge to get up and dance for joy.