Whisper from the Woods [Library Binding]

Victoria Wirth (Author), A. Scott Banfill (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1991

Ssh . . . Listen to the woods. In this elegant edition, Victoria Wirth and Scott Banfill reveal for us the secret lives of woodland trees. Wirth's sparse, honest text narrates the eternal cycle of nature--birth, growth, death, and joyous rebirth--through the events that occur to a generation of trees. Beautifully detailed and passionately dramatic, Banfill's breathtaking paintings imbue the trees with character and personality. Full color.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 1 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Juv) (October 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671747908
• ISBN-13: 978-0671747909
• Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 9.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #920,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A superb and subtle introduction to the cycle of life, June 3, 2002

By 

Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whisper from the Woods (Library Binding)

"Whisper from the Woods" is a superb way to introduce to young children the idea that life is a cycle and although everyone and everything eventually dies, new things are also constantly coming into being. It's a comforting thought, and it's beautifully presented here.

Victoria Wirth's quiet, quiet text concerns an oak tree which drops an acorn deep in the woods. As the acorn grows into a sapling and then into a tree, we see through A. Scott Banfill's magical illustrations that the parent tree is growing older and weaker. When the parent tree eventually dies, the children trees sorrowfully cover her with leaves and await the spring--in which, of course, new acorns fall and new trees begin to grow.

Trees aside, Banfill manages to squeeze in tiny elves, butterflies, rabbit families, bears, and all manner of birds, among other animals. As if that weren't enough, each of his gorgeous illustrations is bordered with a handsome, each-one-different swath of stylized elements from nature: leaves, snowflakes, flowers, insects, and so on.

The book is a joy to read and a subtle reminder that life is an endless cycle--something every child needs to know.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably interesting and detailed pictures, February 24, 2000

By 

Suzanne Amara (MA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Whisper from the Woods (Library Binding)

I read this book to my older son hundreds of times, and I think every time I found something new in the pictures! They are fabulous. The woods shown here are full of creatures, all with such incredible details. It must have been something like my 50th reading I noticed that there were little forest people in some of the pictures! The story never scared my son, although it does deal with the life cycle including death, but it is done in a natural and beautiful way. I must admit my husband was a bit bothered by that theme in a picture book, and others might be too, but I really wasn't, as it was presented as part of life. A very unusual and special book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny faces on talking trees make this book interesting., May 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Whisper from the Woods (Library Binding)

Interesting full page illustrations with faces on trees and nuts, roots which look like hands and wind with a face. It's both scary and not scary. It takes only a few minutes to read. For 5 years old and up. I liked the story and the borders on the illustrations. Peter (age 8)