The Tin Forest

Product Information

The story has fantastic pictures which increase in colour and animation as the story continues and as hope grows. It tells the story of an old man who dreams of living in a wild forest bursting with life, but lives in a grey and barren scrap-metal wasteland. Additionally, The children produced sone fantastic pieces of writing too: non-cron, descriptive narrative, letters, diaries, persuasion. Your Year 2 / Year 3 class will focus on adding in the capital letters, full stops, commas and apostrophe to the sentences or passage.

The man’s connection with nature in the midst of his desolation and how nature grows from dreamt to constructed to lived is, I think, why the book endures. The book could be used as a trigger for some fantastic artwork, exploring contrasts in tone and texture, exploring mixed media or responding emotionally to the story. One day, he finally started to create a forest that's made of these things and soon, a bird happened to visit his place.However, I think that it's almost more about being imaginative, about having dreams and going after them—most of all, it's about making lemonade from lemons — only in this case it's about creating a beautiful forest out of ugly garbage and then seeing what wonders come as a result! I would use this as part of an environmental unit or with a child that was feeling helpless about their situation. Over the course of the story the old man changes the forest from something “filled with all the things that no one wanted,” to something “filled with all the things that everyone wanted. I like how the author has taken some familiar words and put them into a different context which makes the reader question why the author has chosen to do this. Each sentence gives some information about the old man with some information being obviously apparent and other information based on making simple inferences.

Really, this is such a delightful book that I almost wish I'd never given another 5 star review so this one would stand out. In spite of his gloomy surroundings, he dreams every night of a lively forest full of trees, birds, and animals. Those shoots lead to more birds, to insects and leaves, to small creatures, and finally, to wild animals. I also love the story’s real forest, illustrated first in a book the old man reads, then in his dream, then in isolated patches, then in full color.But all that was just a dream, as he had nothing else but trash and junk and objects he gathered as years passed. Following 9/11, the kids are relocated to a new school for several months, one that hasn’t held classes in years, so they have to sit on the floor and make due. Because I’d never heard of this book, I now have its story and the story of this particular elementary school intertwined.

Check out our Upcycling and Environment Resources in addition to this lovely book to encourage students to think about being environmentally friendly and look after their belongings.The Tin Forest was published in 2001, making it a natural choice for a Reading Rainbow episode about 9/11. This feels like a story that is more relevant than ever in the current crisis of never ending rubbish being discarded, and the destruction of green spaces- which, as pointed out by Ward, really are so important for wellbeing and connecting to the world. This book manages not to be overt with the environmental message—but it's certainly there, so if that sort of thing annoys you then probably this book will, too. Written by Helen Ward and illustrated by Wayne Anderson, The Tin Forest is a beautifully crafted modern fable.

In time, real birds arrive, bearing seeds, and soon the artificial forest is taken over by living vines and animals until it looks just like the forest of the old man’s dreams.As a person who loves to make welded sculptures out of junk metal, this story is just close to my heart. It can be viewed as a story about the importance of looking after the Earth, a story about the power of resilience and perseverance or the idea that hope can spring in the darkest of places. I found myself thinking a lot about the restorative power of nature, and the ease to which it can reclaim developed landscapes.