Where Once There Was a Wood

by Denise Fleming, Denise Fleming (Illustrator)

Overview

"Fleming celebrates wildlife in this beautifully illustrated picture book.... Included are lists of plants that provide shelter and food and books that provide further information." —Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805037616
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	04/15/1996
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	34
Product dimensions:	10.36(w) x 10.33(h) x 0.42(d)
Age Range:	4 - 10 Years

About the Author

Denise Fleming won a Caldecott Honor for In the Small, Small Pond. She is the author and illustrator of more than a dozen picture books, including Buster. She lives in Toledo, Ohio.

Denise Fleming won a Caldecott Honor for In the Small, Small Pond. She is the author and illustrator of more than a dozen picture books, including Buster. She lives in Toledo, Ohio.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Fleming's unique illustrative style provides an exciting backdrop to this distinctive, environmental picture book."—School Library Journal

"Contains some of Fleming's most accomplished work ever. A beautiful call to arms."—Publisher's Weekly

"A book that's as welcome as spring."—Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Fleming celebrates wildlife in this beautifully illustrated picture book. The text is one long sentence strung out in fragments, telling of how things were before a housing development was built: "Where once there was a wood / a meadow / and a creek / where once the red fox rested and closed his eyes to sleep /. . . .where once there was a wood a meadow and a creek / sit houses side by side / twenty houses deep." Using her signature medium of papermaking with brightly colored cotton rag fibers, Fleming creates a series of striking spreads that show up particularly well from a distance. The textures and colors create appealing effects of dappled light and shadows. Four pages of appended notes, evidently aimed at adults and older children, tell how to plan a backyard habitat that welcomes wild creatures. Included are lists of plants that provide shelter and food and books that provide further information.

Carolyn Phelan

Already a favorite of preschoolers, Fleming (In the Small, Small Pond, 1993, etc.) takes an appreciation of the natural world a giant step further. Rhythmic verse—"Where once there was a wood/a meadow/and a creek . . . sit houses side by side/twenty houses deep"—demonstrates that there was another sort of community before people arrived, "where once the brown snake/slithered and slipped out of sight." An ecology lesson it surely is, but it's also a celebration of the earth and its creatures. Illustrations in vivid jewel-and-earth tones appear on handmade paper; the woods, creeks, and meadows are clean and inviting, and, bringing balance to the presentation, the new houses are not without their charms. The lively back matter, titled "Welcome Wildlife to Your Backyard Habitat," offers substantial, easily executed suggestions for encouraging wildlife around the home; it's information just right for family and classroom sharing. Perfect for Earth Day observances, a book that's as welcome as spring.

Kirkus Reviews

Fleming's unique illustrative style provides an exciting backdrop to this distinctive, environmental picture book.” —School Library Journal

“Contains some of Fleming's most accomplished work ever. A beautiful call to arms.” —Publisher's Weekly

“A book that's as welcome as spring.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher