5 of Denise Fleming's Books

1. award: Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended Book 2004
title: Buster
author/illustrator:Denise Fleming
publisher:Henry Holt
copyright date:2003
# pages: 33
genre:picture book
summary:Buster is a pampered dog with everything he could possibly want when one day his owner brings home a box. It is not filled with any of the goodies Buster hopes for, it is a cat who interferes with everything Buster enjoys. Buster escapes to a park where he is happy again until he realizes he is lost.
reactions:This is a great book for any child who has experienced having a new sibling or who has become part of a blended family. It is difficult to go from being the center of the universe just happily existing to learning to share and get along with someone you didn’t necessarily invite into your home. This book shows that you can learn not only to exist together but love each other as well.

2.
title:Count!
author/illustrator:Denise Fleming
publisher:Henry Holt
copyright date:1992
genre:picture book
summary:A counting book featuring active animals.
reactions:Typical counting book, but the illustrations are so beautiful they make this one stand out. I like the very active language describing each animal. I also like that it includes counting by 10s up to fifty, which is not typical in a counting book. I love the technique Denise Fleming uses in her illustrations. It reminds me of batik printing, but it is a process which involves dyed paper pulp pressed through handmade stencils.

3. title:Where Once There Was a Wood
author/illustrator:Denise Fleming
publisher:Henry Holt
copyright date:1996
# pages: 32
genre:picture book
summary:A description of the wildlife that once lived in a wood before a housing development took over and people replaced the animals.
reactions:As with all of Denise Fleming’s books, I particularly love the illustrations. Some of the wildlife pictures almost have a quality of pastel chalk, but they are all done using the dyed paper pulp technique. The colors are incredibly vibrant and she achieves amazing realism with such a rustic material. The book is very simple, but the point made is very powerful, and may be a child’s first confrontation with the idea that people impact the environment. But the book is not a gloom and doom story. At the end of the book the author tells what animals need to survive and describes in detail how children and parents can create backyard habitats, including suggestions for specific types of plants. In our family we deliberately left large areas on the border of our yard wild, and have added additional native shrubs and plants. We enjoy seeing all of the little critters even if they do sometimes cause a nuisance now and then.

4. title:In the Small, Small Pond
author/illustrator:Denise Fleming
publisher:Henry Holt
copyright date:1993
# pages: 29
genre:picture book
summary:Rhyming book about life in a small pond.
reactions:This book won a Caldecott Honor for illustrations. It is a simple and fun book, great for introducing young kids to rhyming. It is just playful language that is fun to read or listen to. It is also a good discussion starter about pond habitats and what happens to animals and fish in the wintertime.

5. title:In the Tall, Tall Grass
author/illustrator:Denise Fleming
publisher:Henry Holt
copyright date:1991
# pages: 29
genre:picture book
summary:Rhyming book about life in the tall grass.
reactions: Similar to in the Small Small Pond. (Actually it was written prior.) Shows the envioronment all around us from a kids’ eye view.