‘Hideaway’ a peek into critter capers Nature expert pens children’s picture book

EVERYBODY NEEDS A HIDEAWAY, written and illustrated by Dean Bennett, Down East Books, 32 pages, hardcover, $15.95.

Through several significant books on wilderness, Dean Bennett, professor emeritus of education at the University of Maine at Farmington, is considered one of the, well, deans of environmental writing in New England. “The Forgotten Nature of New England” (1996) and “Maine’s Natural Heritage” (1998), among other titles, reflect an intimate knowledge of nature.

Bennett is also an activist, working tirelessly to preserve such treasures as the Allagash River waterway. He helped edit “On Wilderness: Voices from Maine,” published last year. With “Everybody Needs a Hideaway,” his commitment to the natural world gains a new audience.

This picture book aimed at young readers offers a simple and engaging narrative of wildlife in an autumn woodland somewhere in western Maine. (The author lives in Mount Vernon.) After school one day, a boy named Ben retreats to his hideaway, a platform built in a tall pine, from where he observes the comings and goings of animals, including birds and a bull moose. The latter emerges from a marsh to bed down nearby, essentially trapping the boy in his perch.

Boo Dog, the family’s golden retriever, is sent off to fetch the boy home for supper. On his way to the hiding place, the curious canine comes upon a variety of wild creatures, including a red squirrel, a caterpillar and the aforementioned moose. Each encounter allows Bennett to provide a bit of natural history, in particular how these various species protect themselves by creating hiding places.

The illustrations mix soft watercolor washes with more detailed renderings in graphite that evidence the hand of a naturalist. While the boy and his mother are more or less featureless, the animals, including the handsome family pooch, are depicted with their markings well delineated. A favorite illustration shows the dog sniffing the air by a tree on the other side of which a squirrel hides. For anyone who has had the good fortune to have a tree house for retreat – or a dog for companionship – this book will bring back warm memories.

With this book, Bennett joins a growing coterie of children’s book authors here in Maine who advocate for the natural world, including Mary Beth Owens (“A Caribou Alphabet”), Cherie Mason (“Everybody’s Somebody’s Lunch”) and Susan Hand Shetterly (“Shelterwood”). In the author’s note on the back flap, there’s a reference to a second children’s book by Bennett, “Finding a Friend in the Forest,” to be published soon by Down East Books. On the evidence of “Everybody Needs a Hideaway,” we readers, young and old alike, have something to look forward to.

Carl Little can be reached at little@acadia.net.