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Lessons of the Rain Forest

Deep in the Amazon rain forest, a young boy learns about the healing powers of plants from a medicine man. This tale is told in The Shaman's Apprentice, a new book by Lynne Cherry and Mark J. Plotkin.

Cherry is the author-illustrator of The Great Kapok Tree, a 1990 book that introduced kids to the wonders of the Amazon rain forest. Plotkin wrote Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, which introduced adults to those wonders. Three years ago, the two authors teamed up.

They traveled to Suriname, in South America, and stayed in a Tirio Indian village. The shaman, or medicine man, showed the authors how he makes medicines from plants. "We can learn a lot from native people," says Cherry. "That's why it's important to protect the rain forests."

Take a look at the drawings in The Shaman's Apprentice, and you'll learn a lot. "Every plant and every animal is right where it belongs," says Cherry.

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