Munro Leaf (1905-1976) was an American writer, illustrator, and columnist whose books for children include Manners Can Be Fun and How to Behave and Why (both of which he also illustrated). In 1936 he "dashed off in 25 minutes" a story about a bull who preferred flowers to bullfights as a showcase for the artistic talent of his friend Robert Lawson. The Story of Ferdinand went on to become a best-seller and the two men collaborated on three subsequent books, Wee Gillis (1938), The Story of Simpson and Sampson (1941), and Aesop's Fables (1941). »

Wee Gillis

By Munro Leaf
Illustrations by Robert Lawson

A Caldecott Honor Book by the creators of the beloved Story of Ferdinand

Wee Gillis lives in Scotland. He is an orphan, and he spends half of each year with his mother's people in the lowlands, while the other half finds him in the highlands with his father's kin. Both sides of Gillis's family are eager for him to settle down and adopt their ways. In the lowlands, he is taught to herd cattle, learning how to call them to him in even the heaviest of evening fogs. In the rocky highlands, he stalks stags from outcrop to outcrop, holding his breath so as not to make a sound. Wee Gillis is a quick study, and he soon picks up what his elders can teach him. And yet he is unprepared when the day comes for him to decide, once and for all, whether it will be the lowlands or the highlands that he will call his home.

Robert Lawson and Munro Leaf's classic picture book is a tribute to the powers of the imagination and a triumph of the storyteller's and illustrator's art.

Reviews

Wee Gillis has won the hearts of children and adults. The pictures of the Lowland farms and the craggy Highlands of Scotland have sufficient beauty to make anyone who comes from that lovely country homesick for its hills and heather. The drawings of Robert Lawson combine beauty and humor with a reality that makes the reader feel he has taken a trip to Scotland. Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson have done it again!
— The New York Times

...a delightful picture book for children, grown-up and otherwise.
— The Washington Post

Also see:

D'Aulaires' Book of Animals Written and illustrated by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire This remarkably beautiful volume unfolds into an 8-foot long two-sided panoramic work of art on which the animals of the world are rendered in vibrant color and the moonlit shades of night.

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