Song “Dans la forêt lointaine” · the coloring pages on this refrain
The cuckoo in the tree
A cuckoo clock hangs from the branch of a big tree, and the unicorn, mouth wide open, watches the bird pop out.
- Recommended age
- Ages 4 and up · 20 to 40 minutes
A clock hanging from a branch
A big tree fills the left of the page, with a thick trunk and cloud-shaped leaves. From one of its branches, at the end of a rope, hangs a cuckoo clock: a little wooden house with a shingled roof, topped with a leaf, with a clock face and hands and a small open door. Out of the door, the bird pops and waves its wing. Below, a small unicorn looks up, its mouth a round “o” of surprise. In the grass, two mushrooms, clovers and a few fallen leaves.
You can hear the cuckoo
“Dans la forêt lointaine, on entend le coucou” — “in the faraway forest, you can hear the cuckoo”: the French song is about the real cuckoo, the woodland bird you hear but almost never see. The page plays on the word: the bird comes out of a cuckoo clock, the kind that calls out the hours in some homes. Four-year-olds often know one without the other; the page is a chance to introduce both, and to call “cuckoo!” on the hour.
The wood, the roof, the clock face
The clock is the detailed part: the roof shingles, the planks of the front, the window, the clock face. These are small, regular areas that call for patience. The tree trunk, by contrast, is a very large area, crossed by a few bark lines that can be ignored. The unicorn is simple and round. The page thus alternates moments of precision with freer ones.
A wooden house
For the clock, a light brown on the front and a darker brown on the roof are enough to set it apart from the trunk, which is brown too: it is all in the shades. The clock face stays white, with its hands nice and black. The bird can take a cheerful color that stands out against the wood. The tree’s leaves are big: a strong green, laid on broadly, finishes the page quickly and well.
A word for the grown-up: each time your child finishes an area, call out “cuckoo!” like the clock. It is a small ritual that marks the steps and makes them want to get to the last one.
Coloring pages that go with this one
More pages from the same theme, age or season — the ones you print right after.
