Winter Story (Brambly Hedge)

Product Information

Barklem spent five years on research before she started to write her stories about the mice of Brambly Hedge. Her interest in natural history and traditional rural customs and crafts has spilled over into these chronicles of hedgerow life. She lived with her husband and children near Epping Forest in England. Spring Story (1980) – Wilfred Toadflax enjoys a picnic and a surprise for his birthday at Bluebell Bank. The four seasons were originally released as individual volumes in a miniature format (17.6×14.6cm / 5.7×6.9in). The next two, The Secret Staircase and The High Hills, were published as full-sized books (24×19.5cm / 7.6×9.5in). The last two books, Sea Story and Poppy's Babies, were released in the miniature format (17.6×14.6cm / 5.7×6.9in). Many later collections have all books in a larger format. The books are published by HarperCollins Children's Books in the United Kingdom and United States.

The books, whose first titles were published in 1980, are written and illustrated by Barklem. The first four books follow the seasonal pattern of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Her later four books follow the mice's various adventures and activities. The Brambly Hedge Treasury (1999) — 1 volume containing The Secret Staircase, The High Hills, and an introduction with select illustrations from the first four books (~8.5x11 in)

Poppy is very busy and overworked looking after her babies. Mr Apple and many other mice help clean and refurbish some his old rooms for the naming ceremony, trying to keep it a secret surprise for Poppy. After a lot of work, the new house is ready for the celebration. Take a look at these illustrations.. It's dreamy, isn't it? This book had the power to make me wander with my imagination with those little mice. I was one of them and their adventures and life happenings were truly the best.

It was the most beautiful morning. The spring sunshine crept into every cottage along Brambly Hedge, and the little windows in the trees were opened wide." A tale where a grandiose palace of ice and a warm fireside kitchen are equally honored in the life of the community.

It is easily the most magical and fantastical of the Brambly Hedge seasonal stories - the Ice Hall is gorgeous and the later illustrations in this book benefit from its majestic blue-green pillars and high ceilings. And, in typical Brambly fashion, the more mundane scenes of kitchens and storerooms are just as impressive. It would not be a Brambly book without at least two kitchen illustrations, and this book has some of my favorites. This is the only seasonal Brambly book to be set mostly at night, which gives the illustrations a warm and magical quality. The Four Seasons of Brambly Hedge was one of my favorite books when I was little. Those little mice were the cutest thing ever, their adventures were always dreamy and the illustrations were phenomenal.

Midwinter's Day is coming. Primrose and Wilfred are assigned to recite the Midwinter Poem, and they discover a secret staircase concealed in the attic and many old rooms within. They finally stumble down a secret tunnel making it in time for the Midwinter celebrations, but they keep the old rooms a secret. They carefully make the most amazing courses and joyfully eat fantastic meals. It's wonderful and I was in love. I don’t think I’d realized how much I imprinted on the visual style and artistic themes until I saw them again as an adult. The rich yet soft colors! The light and shadow! The natural themes! The ornate and intricate detail-filled pictures! The cutaway views of houses built into trees and stumps! The food! This book is hella wholesome and cute. I had a blast reading it. It amused me how the mice are constantly finding reasons to party, and it was just adorbs how excitedly the mice band together to celebrate, have fun and help each other. The best thing about this book is definitely the beautiful art by Barklem. The illustrations are so intricate, detailed, cute and I could spend hours looking at them. I love the way she drew her characters, their outfits and their homes in the trees.The story follows the life of a few families through a whole year. It is divided into different seasons, so we have 4 parts: Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. My favorites were Autumn and Spring, yes I must admit I am a Spring baby through and through.