Description de l’éditeur
American author, naturalist, and abolitionist, Henry David Thoreau was a principal figure of the 19th century movement of Transcendentalism. Central to the philosophy is a belief that people, who are inherently good, are corrupted by the organized institutions of society and that consequently the best community is one that is built upon on independence and self-reliance. In Thoreau’s best known work, “Walden” we find a classic account of his attempt to live by the principles espoused in this philosophy. Henry David Thoreau spent two years living at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts, on a woodland property owned by fellow transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson. The story is detailed in its accounts of Thoreau’s day-to-day activities, observations, and undertakings to survive out in the wilderness. Thoreau’s journal is an exquisite account of a man seeking a more simple life by living in harmony with nature. A journey of self-discovery, “Walden” is Thoreau’s declaration of independence, a manual of self-reliance, for which the author will be forever immortalized. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Shrinking Walden into picture book size is somewhat like trying to fit Moby Dick into an aquarium. Still, Lowe's selections from Thoreau's iconoclastic work will give children a brief taste of this classic. Using only quotations from the original work, Lowe tells the story of Thoreau's year in the woods, emphasizing his descriptions of nature,stet comma and action rather than his philosophical musings. Readers see the young Thoreau putting shingles on his roof, hoeing beans, welcoming a stranger; they can revel in the natural wonders he describes--the ``whip-poor-wills,'' in summer, the drifting snow in winter, the ice breaking in the pond in spring. Sabuda's superb linoleum-cut prints lend a hard-edged brilliance to the dark woods--where sunlight is filtered through etched leaves, and moonlight shimmers on the waters of the pond made famous by a young man's experiment with life. All ages.
