Product Description

A gentle story about the relationship between a wise old tree and the young seedlings in the forest. After supporting the young trees growing up beside him for years with his love and wisdom, the wise old tree falls one stormy night and has to rely on the others. Victoria Wirth's passionate telling and A. Scott Banfill's breathtaking paintings create a moving story about the importance of relationships and the cycle of life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #412628 in Books
• Published on: 1991-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: School & Library Binding
• 1 pages

Customer Reviews

A superb and subtle introduction to the cycle of life
"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.

Unbelievably interesting and detailed pictures
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.

Exceptional! Inspiring! Exquisitely Symbolic!
For those who enjoy and are ever searching for an addition to their metaphoric library - this is a treasure indeed. It is a gem of written and visually portrayed word. Inspirational for the youngest to the oldest of all generations. It promotes the beauty and wealthy of "storytelling" and the intrinsic worth of a soul and a community.