Sunday, October 22, 2006

Favorite Things - Brambly Hedge

One our very favorite things to read is the Brambly Hedge series of books by Jill Barklem. Her illustrations are amazing; a person could spend hours looking at them (and I think we have).

The stories center around a community of mice living in the English countryside. In the books we hear about their weddings, birthdays, voyages, snowstorms and other fun adventures. In the above photo you see one of their kitchens, where all of the big feasts are prepared. I hope to have a kitchen just like it one day!

This is the store stump where they keep all the goodies they've collected over the summer. They also have a dairy and a flour mill. The books are filled with wonderful illustrations, including landscapes and cut-away drawings of each of their houses.
The stories are sweet, but with a sense of adventure. They're a bit like Beatrix Potter, but don't have the dark element that some of hers have. I think the illustrations are even better.
The kids and I dream of living in Brambly Hedge one day, but in the meantime the books transport us there whenever we feel like a visit!

2 comments:

Tara said...

Thank you for sharing this treasure of a book! I'll be on the look-out for them. The illustrations are amazing!

Cheryl said...

You're welcome! Do try to find them, you won't regret it.