Wee Gillis
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Overview
A Caldecott Honor Book by the creators of the beloved Story of FerdinandWee Gillis lives in Scotland. He is an orphan, and he spends half of each year with his mother's people in the lowlands, while the other half finds him in the highlands with his father's kin. Both sides of Gillis's family are eager for him to settle down and adopt their ways. In the lowlands, he is taught to herd cattle, learning how to call them to him in even the heaviest of evening fogs. In the rocky highlands, he stalks stags from outcrop to outcrop, holding his breath so as not to make a sound. Wee Gillis is a quick study, and he soon picks up what his elders can teach him. And yet he is unprepared when the day comes for him to decide, once and for all, whether it will be the lowlands or the highlands that he will call his home.
Robert Lawson and Munro Leaf's classic picture book is a tribute to the powers of the imagination and a triumph of the storyteller's and illustrator's art.
Wee Gillis couldn't decide whether he wanted to be a Highlander like his father, and stalk stags or a Lowlander like his mother, and raise long-haired cows.
Synopsis
A Caldecott Honor Book by the creators of the beloved Story of Ferdinand
Wee Gillis lives in Scotland. He is an orphan, and he spends half of each year with his mother's people in the lowlands, while the other half finds him in the highlands with his father's kin. Both sides of Gillis's family are eager for him to settle down and adopt their ways. In the lowlands, he is taught to herd cattle, learning how to call them to him in even the heaviest of evening fogs. In the rocky highlands, he stalks stags from outcrop to outcrop, holding his breath so as not to make a sound. Wee Gillis is a quick study, and he soon picks up what his elders can teach him. And yet he is unprepared when the day comes for him to decide, once and for all, whether it will be the lowlands or the highlands that he will call his home.
Robert Lawson and Munro Leaf's classic picture book is a tribute to the powers of the imagination and a triumph of the storyteller's and illustrator's art.
Publishers Weekly
Munro Leaf aficionados will also appreciate the Caldecott Honor book Wee Gillis by Leaf, illus. by Robert Lawson, in a handsome paper-over-board edition, starring the title hero, torn between becoming a Highlander who stalks stags like his father, or raising long-haired cows like his mother, a Lowlander. Pen-and-inks capture the boy's comic inner struggle with outer shenanigans. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Munro Leaf aficionados will also appreciate the Caldecott Honor book Wee Gillis by Leaf, illus. by Robert Lawson, in a handsome paper-over-board edition, starring the title hero, torn between becoming a Highlander who stalks stags like his father, or raising long-haired cows like his mother, a Lowlander. Pen-and-inks capture the boy's comic inner struggle with outer shenanigans. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson collaborated on four books, beginning in 1936 with The Story of Ferdinand. Ferdinand, the pacifist bull, has been with us ever since, and it is a pleasure to have this 1939 Caldecott Honor book join him again. Perhaps in recognition of the war clouds then gathering over Europe, Leaf and Lawson created another fable about peaceful solutions to strife—in this case, border issues. The Scottish orphan Wee Gillis is shunted between his Highland and Lowland relatives. Half the year is spent tending long-haired cows in the south, half stalking stags in the north. When the time comes to choose his final adult allegiance, the stamina he has gained in his jobs allows the lad to find an alternate plan that suits everyone. Leaf's spare narrative has aged well. So have Lawson's wry pen-and-ink sketches. Young Gillis dutifully downs the same large bowl of morning porridge from the same chipped bowl, north or south. His freckled face carefully masks his feelings about the adults controlling him—but his eyes give him away. When his moment of destiny arrives, Gillis has the strength and sense to act. This marvelous little book should be required reading for mediation sessions. It will charm new generations of children. Welcome back! 2006 (orig. 1938), New York Review Children's Collection, Ages 4 up.—Kathleen Karr