"Once there was a nature writer named Henry David Thoreau who lived in Concord, Massachusetts, and loved to walk in the wilderness" are the opening words in this tribute to the famous American naturalist. Thomas Locker's beautiful landscape paintings filled with browns, reds, and greens convey the wonders experienced by Thoreau on a journey into the New England wilderness with his walking stick.

There is a reverence here for the bounties of the natural world. Thoreau follows the path of a river, witnesses a sunset, smells plants, hears the sound of animals, relishes the sight of a waterfall, sees a moose at sunrise, climbs a mountain, and heads home with his senses still on full alert. Locker, the author of more than 30 children's books, beckons us to take our own walks in the wilderness by making this journey so appealing.

In a selection of quotations by Thoreau on the last page, we read: "I seek acquaintance with nature, to know her moods and manners." Walking with Henry provides a marvelous introduction to the art of opening ourselves to the many moods and manners of nature.