Shadow the Deer - Hardcover

Radcliffe, Theresa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670838527 ISBN 13: 9780670838523

Publisher: Viking Juvenile, 1993

Synopsis

Depicts the relationship of a fawn and its mother as they survive in a dangerous world full of hungry enemies, in particular a fox concerned about feeding her own babies

About this title

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-A beautiful book that relates the adventures of deer in their natural habitat. Shadow, the mother of a three-day-old fawn, is forced to leave her baby to seek water, while nearby a red fox begins hunting food for her own young. When she happens upon the fawn in its camouflaged location, a pheasant sounds a warning, Shadow rushes to defend her offspring, and the episode concludes with the two of them safe in the enveloping darkness. The simple text is descriptive enough to give a sense of place, exciting enough to have an element of suspense, and sensitive enough to convey the care and protection of mothers for their young. Double-page watercolor illustrations in soft, natural tones form an impressionistic background for closeups of realistically drawn forest creatures. Eyes shine and coats look so real that readers can sense how they must feel. This title has all of the positive elements of an animal story without being overly anthropomorphized, and is written on an easier level than Jean Craighead George and Sal Catalano's The Moon of the Deer (HarperCollins, 1992). Use it with Tom Wolpert's Whitetails for Kids (NorthWord, 1991) to present facts about deer behavior. A welcome addition.
Diane Nunn, Richard E. Byrd Elementary School, Glen Rock, NJ
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

A feast more for the eyes than for the ears, this admirably researched story introduces a thirsting deer who steals away anxiously to a nearby lake, leaving her three-day-old fawn. Though she is absent only briefly, fear and uncertainty envelop her like the thickening mist in the forest. She returns barely in time to rescue her fawn from a mother fox hunting a meal for her two hungry cubs. Butler's lifelike illustrations, worked with gouache, watercolors and air brush, capture uncanny details even as they suggest the diffuse, vapory air of the damp forest. Their intimacy and nobility pose a challenge to language; first-time author Radcliffe's diction is precise and unadorned, clearly supporting the artist's work, and the layout reflects this subordination of text. The author's and the artist's understanding of wildlife behavior and habitats shines through--their nature tale has both drama and integrity. Ages 2-6.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Juvenile
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0670838527
• ISBN 13: 9780670838523
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Butler John