PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Henry David Thoreau (1817-62) was born in Concord, Massachusetts and educated at Harvard. He became a follower and a friend of Emerson, and described himself as a mystic and a transcendentalist. Although he published only two books in his lifetime, Walden (from which this book is taken) is regarded as a literary masterpeice and one of the most significant books of the 19th century.
A few brief but unaltered excerpts, carefully placed in context by an introduction and with ellipses scrupulously indicated, touch on the activities of a year's cycle and give the young reader a first taste of this beloved 19th-century author's account of his solitary stay in a pond-side cabin. With their dramatic use of black combined with the subtle tones of nature, Sabuda's handsome linoleum-cut illustrations recall Tejima's work in wood; quietly reflecting Thoreau's own reverence for his surroundings, they are sure to attract readers. Whether such abridgments are worthwhile is always debatable, but this one is done with such sensibility to its source that it's worth consideration. (Kirkus Reviews)
