Whitefoot: A Story from the Center of the World - Tapa dura

Setting up her home in a corner in the cozy wood, Whitefoot the mouse is swept away one evening when the river overruns it banks--taking her on a wondrous journey of discovery where she soon comes to learn that the world is much more vast and incredible than she had ever imagined it to be.

Whitefoot is a mouse, a small creature with "elegant whiskers" and a "reddish brindly tan" coat. She lives at the edge of the woods, where she knows, without a doubt, that she exists at the center of the world. What she doesn't know is that not far from her safe haven there is a river, a world of such size and magnitude that she cannot even imagine it, small as she is. And she is quite small--so small that Wendell Berry asks us to "think of going about with your eyes only an inch or two from the ground, among grass stems thicker than your thumb, weed stems thicker than your wrist, maple and oak leaves that you can slip under and hide, trees that touch the sky." One day, a great burst of rain floods down on Whitefoot, lifting her in its currents and carrying her far from home. What happens next leads Whitefoot on a great adventure--one in which she must encounter new experiences and frightening challenges to her survival. The discovery of the universe around her, and her own ability to survive within it, is a lesson that's sure to resonate with children and adults alike. This beautiful volume is illustrated with original drawings by acclaimed artist Davis Te Selle, whose duotones most recently appeared in Wendy Johnson's award-winning Gardening at the Dragon's Gate.