The Adventure of Treehorn

The Adventures of Treehorn #1-2

by Florence Parry Heide, Edward Gorey (Illustrator)

Treehorn learns that grownups don't pay much attention to children when he tries to convince them he's growing smaller or that he's found a tree whose leaves are turning into dollar bills

Genres: Fiction

61 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1983

About the author

"What do I like about writing for children? Everything," says Florence Parry Heide, the award-winning author of more than sixty children’s books, including the classic THE SHRINKING OF TREEHORN, illustrated by Edward Gorey. "I like the connection with children," the author says. "I like the connection with all kinds of book people. And I like the connection with my childhood self, which is the most of me. It is the most welcome and familiar of worlds. There miracles abound--indeed it is magical that something I might think of can be put into words, stories, ideas, and that those words end up in the heads of readers I will never meet."

Florence Parry Heide wrote SOME THINGS ARE SCARY, a humorous look at childhood bugaboos, more than thirty years ago. "I had finished another book and was in the mood to write something else," she says. "I decided to get some kindling from the garage, reached into the kindling box and--good grief!--grabbed something soft and mushy. I fled back to the house, scared to death." A brave return visit to the kindling box revealed the object of terror to be nothing more than a discarded wet sponge, but the thought remained: some things are scary. As she recalls, "What scared me as a child was that I’d never learn how to be a real grownup--and the fact is, I never did find out how it goes."


One thing Florence Parry Heide does have a good handle on is the concept of friendship, in all its humorous manifestations. THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR, a tongue-in-cheek tale cowritten with Sylvia Van Clief in 1967, pokes at the tendency of well-meaning friends to offer advice instead of help, and presents a valuable lesson about what true friendship means. "One of my many (true) sayings is ‘A new friend is around the corner of every single day,’ " the author declares. "Also true: Friendships last. And last."


Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Florence Parry Heide worked in advertising and public relations in New York City before returning to Pittsburgh during World War II. After the war, she and her husband moved to Wisconsin, where they raised five children, two of whom have cowritten critically acclaimed books with their mother. Florence Parry Heide now lives in Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Jesse Baggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two pleasantly odd stories in one collection. No one pays attention to poor Treehorn; he experiences the benign neglect supposedly common among Gen X childhoods, even though his adventures are decidedly uncommon. The real draw here is Edward Gorey’s drawings, which add a frisson to what would otherwise be fairly plain writing. As a child, this was never my favorite book, but I enjoyed its quiet, strange power. Rereading it with my own children was a treat.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two books in one: The Shrinking of Treehorn
and Treehorn's Treasure. In The Shrinking
of Treehorn, Treehorn, a young boy, begins
to shrink and no one seems to notice. In
Treehorn's Treasure, a tree in Treehorn's
backyard begins to grow money. Recommended.