Book - Wee Gillis

Wee Gillis 

By Munro “I wrote Ferdinand the Bull” Leaf

Illustrated by Robert “I illustrated Ferdinand” Lawson

Wee Gillis is a Scottish orphan, so you know this book is different from the start. He lives in the Highlands and Lowlands, half the year each, with a different set of relatives, both of whom want him to live with them year-‘round. The book is about how he decides which to go to. Will he herd cattle in the Lowlands, or stalk stags in the Highlands? You’ll have to read it to find out. That’s the catch.

It’s every bit as good as Ferdinand, and has the same look and vibe. Sincere, friendly, interesting story, and the illustrations are the kind that AI will never be able to duplicate. The book is physically gorgeous, a green-and-red thin hardback—a good size, now that you mention it, for hooking a metric metal ruler over and jamming up tight while somebody helps you measure your PBH. The endpapers are red-and-white

It is a Caldecott Honor book. Written in 1938, at a time when it wasn’t important for children’s books to have page numbers, but it’s 13mm thick total, with 8mm of pages. This is one of my favorite children’s stories. I have lots of them. I’d say any eight-year old could read it, and a few 7 year olds, but adults will like it too, and the idea is that you’ll read it to children, anyway, and you won’t find it in your local bookstore.