Summer Story

The beautiful illustrations and the imagination of the author are wonderful! I love this book and I enjoy reading it to my little granddaughter. She loves the pictures of the little Brambly Hedge mice.

Poppy Eyebright and Dusty Dogwood are mice that live near a stream. One hot summer they begin to date, and then they announce their engagement. They marry and have a very pleasant wedding ceremony with all of their mousy relatives. The book is quite interesting with its reminders of the customs of times gone by, like engagements and trousseaus. Kids can also learn from it how people use to survive hot weather without air conditioners. The book has about 800 words.

The Brambly Hedge books remain one of the sweetest picture book series ever to be concocted for the kiddie set. Of these, my favorite has always been "Summer Story". The plot is not particularly complex. In it, two little mice (Dusty Dogwood and Poppy Eyebright) have become engaged and they prepare for their summer wedding. Similar in many ways to Beatrix Potter's books, the Brambly Hedge series is published small, for small readers. Kids will enjoy the pleasant story while taking particular interest in some of Barklem's more impressive drawings. Her elaborate Rube Goldbergesque illustrations of the Dairy Stump and Mill are delightful. There is an attention to detail in these books that does not go unnoticed. For those kids who are, as of yet, too young to enjoy Brian Jacques "Redwall" books, the Brambly Hedge series may be right up their alley.

I really enjoy Jill Barklem's work, especially this book. Thesummer story is one of the Brambley Hedge season books, and tells thestory of the summer courtship and marriage of two of the mice of Brambley Hill. It's hot outside in Brambley Hedge and the mice want to do nothing but sit and dip their tails in the stream, until suddenly, the hedge is buzzing trying to prepare for the upcoming wedding. The pictures are lovely, as usual, andthe sory simple and sweet. A great book for children and adults.

I was given a copy of this book as a 2-year old, and I am so excited that it has finally come back into print. This book is very endearing. It tells the story of a young mouse, Wilfred, who is celebrating his birthday. The other mice of Brambley Hedge work together to plan a special surprise for Wilfred, and have almost as good a time planning it as Wilfred does discovering it. It is a good book for bedtime reading, or just any time. Everyone will enjoy this happy tale and it's adorable characters.