Harald and the Great Stag

Harald offers the Baron's hunters berries from his basket and listens to their stories of the hunt. The Great Stag has eluded their dogs by going through streams and burnt grass, and every year he grows wiser and stronger. Then the tales give way to experience when Harald looks ""the Great Stag in the eye.'' He distracts the hunters' dogs by scattering the Stag's droppings through the forest and hides in a tree. Danger approaches; Harald, too, becomes hunted. Once safe, the Stag sheds two silver antlers by Harald's house. This tale of grace and beauty could have been spun only by the most able of storytellers. Carrick's atmospheric watercolors depict with clarity the haunting, mysterious elements of the forest. Readers are immediately transported into this bountiful past through the evocative paintings and words, in a story that, like the Stag's gift, will be cherished for years to come. Ages 5-9. (April)