A Year Around the Great Oak

Quick Look

• Detailed and accurate illustrations of plants and animals around a 300-year-old oak tree will delight and educate young readers in this lovely seasonal story
• A wonderful expanded edition with new illustrations and fascinating fact pages
• From the creator of How Does My Garden Grow and A Year in Our New Garden
• "A useful as well as a handsome book." -- New York Times

A re-designed, expanded edition of a classic bestseller. Anna and Benjamin discover the plants and animals living around a 300-year-old tree through detailed, charming illustrations. A blend of fiction and fact to delight and inform.

Description

Anna and Benjamin live in the city but love to stay with their cousin Robin in the countryside. Robin takes the children to see his favourite tree in the nearby forest: a 300-year-old giant oak.

Each time the children visit, they are amazed at how the forest and the mighty oak changes with the seasons. In autumn, they build a cosy den in the tree's roots to watch the squirrels. In winter, they learn to ski in the shelter of the forest. In spring, they search the forest for animals. But some creatures can be dangerous, and one night, the old oak tree helps Benjamin when he discovers something he wasn't expecting…

Join Anna and Benjamin as they spend the seasons with the great oak tree, and discover the fascinating plants and animals that live around it.

This new, expanded edition of A Year Around the Great Oak is a compelling combination of engaging story and educational information to delight and teach readers. Discover new detailed and accurate illustrations and fascinating fact pages, alongside the wonderful seasonal story from Gerda Muller, creator of the beloved Seasons board books, A Year in Our New Garden and How Does My Garden Grow?

Reviews

'Gerda Muller writes with a lightness of touch that beautifully offsets her detailed and warmly realised illustrations. A beautiful book about discovering the wonder of the woodland and finding profound enjoyment in it.'
-- Children's Books Ireland Recommended Reads

'If there is a nature-lover out there, this is the perfect book for them... All the pages are filled with beautiful illustrations of plants and animals that live in the forest throughout the different seasons. The last few pages of the book feature information of the life of an oak tree, how a tree eats and drinks, what makes their home in a tree, and all the plants and animals that live in a forest -- a wealth of information.'
-- Youth Services Book Review, 5 Stars

'A Year Around the Great Oak is a beautifully and elegantly detailed seasonal story from author and artist Gerda Muller that includes the animals and birds that live in the great oak's forest.'
-- Midwest Book Review

'A gentle tale of children exploring the natural world whenever they are together. The illustrations -- of gouache, colored pencil, and graphite -- have the nostalgic appeal of mid-20th-century Golden Books, with people, plants, and animals rendered in a way that imbues them all with sweetness... Following the story is the new material: 12 pages of further information about woodlands, in lovingly illustrated detail.'
-- Kirkus Reviews

'This is an exquisite work of art with a timeless quality ... A must for all libraries and schools.'
-- Carousel

'Unpredictable, stimulating and ultimately confidence-inducing ... Gerda Muller, whose work may be familiar from her other nature-imbued children's books ('Goldilocks and the Three Bears', 'Where Do They Go When It Rains?'), draws each activity and animal with great detail and attention. Leaf shapes are accurate, and the picture of the children making their hideout from sticks and leaves is as good as a scouting manual; for readers with access to woods this could prove to be a useful as well as a handsome book.'
-- The New York Times.com

'A must for every child's library and for any teacher looking for fictional works to support environmental education in the early years.'
-- UK National Association for Environmental Education

'With gorgeous illustrations and an engaging story, Gerda Muller takes us into a forest where we get to be a part of Great Oak's magical world for a little while. Young readers will appreciate the simple adventures that the children have in autumn, winter, spring and summer when they visit the tree.'
-- Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews

'Beautifully illustrated and informative.'
-- Kindling

Author

Gerda Muller is an acclaimed Dutch children’s author and illustrator. Born in 1926 in Naarden, Netherlands, Gerda studied at the Fine Arts School of Amsterdam and L'École Estienne of Paris and has lived in France for over 70 years. Gerda's greatest inspiration is her love of nature and her picture books are treasured for their vibrant and detailed illustrations of the natural world. Gerda has illustrated over 120 books for children many of which have been translated into multiple languages. She is the creator of The Wildwood Elves, The Town Musicians of Bremen, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the wordless Seasons board books, Where Do They Go When It Rains? and A Year in Our New Garden, a USBBY Outstanding International Book.