Henry Hikes to Fitchburg

by D.B. Johnson

Overview

Inspired by a passage from Henry David Thoreau's WALDEN, this wonderfully appealing story follows two friends who have very different approaches to life. When the two agree to meet one evening in Fitchburg, which is thirty miles away, each decides to get there in his own way and have surprisingly different days.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780395968673
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/03/2000
Series:	A Henry Book
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	414,564
Product dimensions:	10.75(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.37(d)
Lexile:	AD500L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

D. B. Johnson has been a freelance illustrator for more than twenty years and has done editorial cartoons, comic strips, and conceptual illustrations for magazines and newspapers around the country. Mr. Johnson’s first picture book, Henry Hikes to Fitchburg, was a New York Times bestseller and a Publishers Weekly bestseller, as well as an American Bookseller “Pick of the Lists.” Henry Hikes to Fitchburg also won numerous awards, including the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Picture Books and the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. Mr. Johnson lives in New Hampshire.
www.henryhikes.com

Editorial Reviews

An auspicious picture book debut.

Horn Book

K-Gr 4-A nicely realized retelling of a short passage from Henry Thoreau's Walden. Henry and his friend decide to go to Fitchburg, a town 30 miles away. "I'll walk," says Henry, but his friend decides to work for the money for a train ticket and see who gets there first. Each subsequent spread marks their progress: "Henry's friend cleaned out Mrs. Thoreau's chicken house. 10 cents./Henry crossed a swamp and found a bird's nest in the grass. 12 miles to Fitchburg." The friend arrives first, barely. "`The train was faster,' he said." "I know," Henry smiled, "I stopped for blackberries." Johnson makes this philosophical musing accessible to children, who will recognize a structural parallel to "The Tortoise and the Hare." The author quotes Thoreau's original anecdote in his endnote. The two friends are depicted as 19th-century bears in the geometric, warm-toned, pencil-and-paint illustrations. Each picture is solidly composed, and although the perspectives may seem somewhat stiff and distracting up close, they work remarkably better from a short distance. The layout and steady pace, as well, make this suitable for storytime. The somewhat open-ended resolution could allow for classroom debate, and is also simply a good ending to a good story.-Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

School Library Journal

[A] beautifully designed and artfully balanced book...The antics and expressions of these bulky competitors add humor to an endearing tale.
—The Christian Science Monitor

Karen Carden

Colorful angular illustrations compare the progress of the two friends on their way to the country town. This friendly competition helps readers better understand the naturalist's view of life and its contrast to the materialistic view.
— Bookbag

Peggy A. Sharp

"A masterpiece . . .The finest illustrations I've seen in years and years and years." —Daniel Pinkwater, NPR Weekend Edition

"An auspicious picture book debut." —Horn Book Horn Book

"This splendid book works on several levels. Johnson’s adaptation of a paragraph taken from Thoreau’s Walden illuminates the contrast between materialistic and naturalistic view of life without ranting or preaching. . . . [The illustrations] demonstrate Johnson’s virtuosic control of his craft" —Booklist, starred review Booklist, ALA, Starred Review

STAR "A nicely realized retelling of a short passage from Henry Thoreau’s Walden." —School Library Journal, starred review School Library Journal, Starred

A Publishers Weekly Flying Start Publishers Weekly —

From the Publisher