What do you think?
Rate this book
Brambly Hedge #3
Autumn Story
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the miniature world of the mice of Brambly Hedge! Bad weather is on the way and the autumn stores are still not gathered in! Quickly, all the mice of Brambly Hedge set to work to finish the harvesting before the rain begins. Primrose, Lord Woodmouse's daughter, meant to help, but somehow she daydreamed her way over the cornfield and into the Chestnut Woods, and before she knew it, she was lost. The sun went down, the wind rose and it began to rain. Primrose was all alone in the dark and she was frightened. Poor Primrose, would she find her way home again? Also look out for Summer Story, Spring Story and Winter Story!
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
19 people are currently reading
1069 people want to read
About the author
Jill Barklem
161 books260 followersJill Barklem (1951-November 15, 2017) was a British writer and illustrator of children's books. Her most famous work is the Brambly Hedge series.
After an accident when she was thirteen, Jill was unable to take part in PE or games at school and instead developed her talent for drawing and art. On leaving school, she studied illustration at St Martin's in London. She became a full-time illustrator. She spent five years on research before she started to write her first stories about the mice of Brambly Hedge.
After an accident when she was thirteen, Jill was unable to take part in PE or games at school and instead developed her talent for drawing and art. On leaving school, she studied illustration at St Martin's in London. She became a full-time illustrator. She spent five years on research before she started to write her first stories about the mice of Brambly Hedge.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 186 reviews
September 24, 2018
All the Brambley Hedge books are beautifully illustrated, loads to look at and discover on every page, tiny details that children love.... all kinds of adventures to read and enjoy, favourites in our household.
Can’t fail with Jill Barkley, the illustrations are Absolutley exquisite.
Can’t fail with Jill Barkley, the illustrations are Absolutley exquisite.
November 9, 2008
The artwork really made this book for me, although the story is cute enough about a little mouse who gets lost in the forest on the last day of harvest. The pictures are really sweet and darling, with a very natural-y feel; and I love all the golden leaves and red-and-black berries; perfect for autumn!
September 30, 2021
¿Puede existir algo más dulce en el mundo?
Sí, la tetralogía entera 💙🥀
«Abriga tus patitas,
abriga tus bigotes;
bebe tus sopitas;
Sueña tus biscotes,
que la noche te guarde
y mis patitas te arropen.»
Marquesa de Rataplás.
Sí, la tetralogía entera 💙🥀
«Abriga tus patitas,
abriga tus bigotes;
bebe tus sopitas;
Sueña tus biscotes,
que la noche te guarde
y mis patitas te arropen.»
Marquesa de Rataplás.
October 27, 2022
Ok, I want to live in a tree, or a hole in the ground, or a grass nest perched in the weeds if they all look as cute and as cozy as the ones in this book! I think I’ve always been jealous of these little homes though - reading Miss Suzy at a young age was what started it. I’ll just have to stay in one of those treehouse cottages you see listed on Airbnb in order to fulfill a childhood dream!
It’s a book about a little mouse that gets lost, but you’re mostly just reading this to keep the pages turning so you can gawk at the pictures!
I’ll be getting the rest in the series for sure.
Ages: 4 - 12
Cleanliness: nothing to note.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!
It’s a book about a little mouse that gets lost, but you’re mostly just reading this to keep the pages turning so you can gawk at the pictures!
I’ll be getting the rest in the series for sure.
Ages: 4 - 12
Cleanliness: nothing to note.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!
December 4, 2017
Autumn is my favourite time of year, and autumn-into-winter is the setting for this story. The mice are in a hurry to get their winter store of the countryside's bounty safely gathered into the Store Stump--one of my favourite places in the Hedge. Everyone pitches in, but one little mouseling wanders off and finds herself lost. At first it's okay, she finds the home of some elderly field mice who take her in and give her tea, but they don't seem to have given her any directions to find her way back to Brambly Hedge before nightfall.
The little mouse's wanderings take her to a labyrinthine underground dwelling which is never mentioned in any other BH book, nor explained in this one. I was left wanting more--what is that place? Was she merely in a disused area of the Hedge? Or was Barklem playing with the idea that would later be developed in The Secret Staircase?
The little mouse's wanderings take her to a labyrinthine underground dwelling which is never mentioned in any other BH book, nor explained in this one. I was left wanting more--what is that place? Was she merely in a disused area of the Hedge? Or was Barklem playing with the idea that would later be developed in The Secret Staircase?
November 8, 2023
I watched a Miranda Mills blog earlier this year where she reminded me of these books, and so I thought I'd re-read our old copies from childhood during their season. Well autumn is getting on and winter is drawing ever closer, so I thought I'd best get on with this one.
In this, Primrose goes missing in the fields whilst gathering in the nuts and berries for the winter stores. Naturally, it all turns out ok. I think the illustrations in this autumn story are my favourite so far in the series, those autumnal images are just so charming. A joy to revisit.
In this, Primrose goes missing in the fields whilst gathering in the nuts and berries for the winter stores. Naturally, it all turns out ok. I think the illustrations in this autumn story are my favourite so far in the series, those autumnal images are just so charming. A joy to revisit.
November 7, 2018
One of four miniature picture-books published together in 1980, each focusing on a different season in the life of a small community of rural mice - the residents of Brambly Hedge, lying "on the other side of the stream, across the field... amongst the tangled roots and stems" - Jill Barklem's Autumn Story is the tale of Primrose, daughter of Lord and Lady Woodmouse, who becomes lost in the forest after she wanders away from her father one busy harvest day. Her adventures picking wildflowers, and then exploring a vole colony, are paralleled by the frantic search undertaken (for her) by her elders...
Like the other entries in this series - Spring Story , Summer Story and Winter Story - I was completely charmed by Barklem's fully realized murine world in Autumn Story, not to mention her intensely detail-oriented illustrations. The interior scenes here would have had me endlessly poring over them, as a girl, while the stories and characters would have kept me amused and involved. Sweet without being cloying, these Brambly Hedge books are the perfect selection for the child who enjoys animal fantasy, and is somewhere between the early picture-book stage, and independent chapter-book reading. Just delightful!
Like the other entries in this series - Spring Story , Summer Story and Winter Story - I was completely charmed by Barklem's fully realized murine world in Autumn Story, not to mention her intensely detail-oriented illustrations. The interior scenes here would have had me endlessly poring over them, as a girl, while the stories and characters would have kept me amused and involved. Sweet without being cloying, these Brambly Hedge books are the perfect selection for the child who enjoys animal fantasy, and is somewhere between the early picture-book stage, and independent chapter-book reading. Just delightful!
August 29, 2021
Autumn is a time for stocking pantry shelves with preserves, so the mice are out gathering berries, fruit and mushrooms. Young Primrose wanders off, inadvertently causing alarm – though all she does is meet a pair of elderly harvest mice and stay for tea and cake in their round nest amid the cornstalks. I love all the little touches in the illustrations: the patchwork tea cosy matches the quilt on the bed one floor up, and nearly every page is adorned with flowers and other foliage. After we get past the mild peril that seems to be de rigueur for any children’s book, all is returned to a comforting normal. Time to get the Winter volume out from the library.
October 19, 2012
My daughter and I enjoyed Autumn Story. She liked it so much that a couple days later she went searching for it at story time. Much like Spring story, it brought me back to my childhood and my siblings love of miniature toys. The details add appeal and give little ones something to look as the story is a tad lengthy.
My daughter asked questions such as "What is brambles and briars?" We talked about how Primrose shouldn't have wondered off and how she must have felt being lost. My daughter loves the last picture in the book and is just fascinated with the fact that acorn coffee was placed by the bed. She wondered why because children shouldn't drink coffee. I didn't even catch that one.
All in all, it was a sweet story of a close-knit community coming together to find a lost child.
My daughter asked questions such as "What is brambles and briars?" We talked about how Primrose shouldn't have wondered off and how she must have felt being lost. My daughter loves the last picture in the book and is just fascinated with the fact that acorn coffee was placed by the bed. She wondered why because children shouldn't drink coffee. I didn't even catch that one.
All in all, it was a sweet story of a close-knit community coming together to find a lost child.
November 18, 2008
I love the illustrations in this book! Probably my favorite part.
The story is cute, too (a little mouse who gets lost and the search party sent out for her). It's nothing outstanding, but cute enough, and the detailed pictures are sure to delight "visual readers" ;>
It definitely has that "classic children's book" feel to it.:)
The story is cute, too (a little mouse who gets lost and the search party sent out for her). It's nothing outstanding, but cute enough, and the detailed pictures are sure to delight "visual readers" ;>
It definitely has that "classic children's book" feel to it.:)
January 13, 2025
My first of Barklem’s whimsical animal adventures that not only give the warm feeling of a redwall tale but the kind hearted warmth and family aspects that make this a perfect beginning step to read to my little baby boy, allowing him to imagine all the little critters and their own little worlds all on his own from here, not to also forget to mention the illustrations are just so cozy you almost wish you could fit down in one of those burrows for your own little bit to eat.
September 24, 2024
4.5🌟 An incredibly sweet story paired with the most lovely illustrations! There's so much to see in every single little detail. It was the perfect cozy read on the first day of Fall. This little adventure really made me smile—especially while seeing the leaves fall from the trees next to my favorite reading chair. A must read for autumn!
October 28, 2021
Ще одна затишна історія з ілюстраціями, які можна дуже довго розглдати і сезонними пригодами мишок ожинового живоплоту.
October 14, 2012
This is the first book I've read by this author. Her illustrations are amazing and definitely add to the story. A family of mice are preparing for winter when little Primrose goes wandering off and gets lost. Her adventure makes for a cute, scary adventure for the reader. Most young children will love this little book which is one of four "season" books by this author.
September 14, 2024
Very comforting!
![Profile Image for Keith [on semi hiatus].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1541020315i%2F84884940._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
December 13, 2019
I read this tonight with my daughter, she got snuggled in nice and cosy, was completely immersed with the story (and my voices & storytelling if I do say so myself), then hit the pillows in a soft slumber.
October 16, 2022
One of four seasonal stories about the comings and goings of anthropomorphic village mice, this installment takes place in autumn as the mice are preparing their stores for winter. While Primrose and her father are gathering essential items, Primrose wanders off. At first, she is content to discover the new scenery and people she meets along the way. There is a particularly charming vignette in which Primrose has tea in a wee little round house with some new friends. But things get a bit scary as the sun begins to set and Primrose realizes she is fully lost. There is a rather spooky scene that has Primrose wandering into an abandoned burrow. Thankfully the peril is quickly relieved in this gentle little story and all is set right in the end. The illustrations are just as jaw droppingly intricate and gorgeous as any other in the series, but perhaps especially dear to me because autumn is my favorite season and I love the purples and rusts and golds through out. Looking forward to Winter Story in a couple of months!
October 9, 2025
روحم تازه شد. داستان آنچنانی نداشت، ولی امان از تصویرگریهاش...
January 30, 2023
Really cute. Beautiful illustrations!
November 18, 2011
For the story, think Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit stories with mice and without the sometimes surprising lapses into violence that forcibly remind you that Potter wrote in a different cultural context. In Potter's world, Mr. MacGregor has a distressing habit of stalking through the pages taking potshots at the cast with his shotgun. That sort of thing doesn't happen in the Brambly Hedge.
So a charming story, but it was the illustrations with their incredibly rich detail that won my heart. Small wonder each drawing took Jill Barklem three months to complete. (Each book in the series is the product of two years' effort.)
My favorites are the ones that dissect the trees where the mice make their homes. I could spend hours staring at all the little rooms the mice have carved out of the tree, complete with tiny furnishings, winding staircases, and halls.
(For a longer review of this series, visit my blog Caterpickles.com or see my review of the Complete Brambly Hedge here on Goodreads.)
So a charming story, but it was the illustrations with their incredibly rich detail that won my heart. Small wonder each drawing took Jill Barklem three months to complete. (Each book in the series is the product of two years' effort.)
My favorites are the ones that dissect the trees where the mice make their homes. I could spend hours staring at all the little rooms the mice have carved out of the tree, complete with tiny furnishings, winding staircases, and halls.
(For a longer review of this series, visit my blog Caterpickles.com or see my review of the Complete Brambly Hedge here on Goodreads.)
May 30, 2019
Jill Barklem spent 5 years on research before she started on her first stories of the mice of Brambly Hedge.
Her interest in natural history and her curiosity about traditional rural customs and crafts has spilled over into these chronicles of hedgerow life.
Once again the art is lovely, similar to the Foxwood Tales, the kind we don't see today. I love the use of light.
The characters themselves don't have much depth, though it is a nice little story and lesson.
Her interest in natural history and her curiosity about traditional rural customs and crafts has spilled over into these chronicles of hedgerow life.
Once again the art is lovely, similar to the Foxwood Tales, the kind we don't see today. I love the use of light.
The characters themselves don't have much depth, though it is a nice little story and lesson.
April 4, 2021
Cute as a button. The densely rich illustrations lift a charming story. Harvest is coming to an end and Primrose the fieldmouse is helping bring in the last of the nuts and berries to the Store Stump. But, distracted by wildflowers and scents, she's wandered off and found a neat little house built in tall grass, a shadowy labyrinth in the ground and a dark forest.
July 21, 2015
Very sweet, must memorise the lullaby at the end.
September 1, 2018
Cozy
Sweet, cozy illustrations that create a sense of home, family and safety. It cannot be made any more charming than it is.
Sweet, cozy illustrations that create a sense of home, family and safety. It cannot be made any more charming than it is.
December 12, 2020
In this one, little Primrose mouse gets lost in the woods during harvest time, but it ends happily. Illustrations are, as always, meticulously amazing!
February 27, 2021
Una historia muy cortita pero muy bonita con unas ilustraciones preciosas.
November 30, 2025
I love these sweet stories and wonder why they are so little known?
November 7, 2021
A gentle respite in a world of reds and greens.
After seeing some of these illustrations as wall art in a friend's home, I knew I wanted to give Brambly Hedge a try. I'm a HUGE fan of the talking-animals-living-in-quaint-villages genre (not sure if that's technically a genre but dang it should be! While not nearly as large in scope, this book (and the series in general) has all the charm of The Wind in the Willows. Everything is so cosy - my favorite illustrations are often of well-stocked kitchens full of jams and antique dinnerware. It really makes me wistful for an age before the microwave, a world of kitchens made beautiful by their practicality.
Several of the illustrations in this book capture a beautiful range of greens, yellows, purples, and reds that is often missed in other autumnal works. It's clear that Barklem has done her research not only into the customs of the English countryside but also the minutia of the natural world as the seasons turn.
The story, like others in the series, is incredibly gentle, and you never doubt that it will reach a happy ending. And it's a quick read to be managed in one sitting. This book doesn't set out to do much when it comes to characters, themes, or moral. Yet as a picture of warmth, community, and the joys of simple, country living, it exceeds richly. Brambly Hedge is a world worth wandering in for a while, and I'd recommend stopping in for tea and cake along the way. I'd definitely plan on giving these books to my kids someday!
After seeing some of these illustrations as wall art in a friend's home, I knew I wanted to give Brambly Hedge a try. I'm a HUGE fan of the talking-animals-living-in-quaint-villages genre (not sure if that's technically a genre but dang it should be! While not nearly as large in scope, this book (and the series in general) has all the charm of The Wind in the Willows. Everything is so cosy - my favorite illustrations are often of well-stocked kitchens full of jams and antique dinnerware. It really makes me wistful for an age before the microwave, a world of kitchens made beautiful by their practicality.
Several of the illustrations in this book capture a beautiful range of greens, yellows, purples, and reds that is often missed in other autumnal works. It's clear that Barklem has done her research not only into the customs of the English countryside but also the minutia of the natural world as the seasons turn.
The story, like others in the series, is incredibly gentle, and you never doubt that it will reach a happy ending. And it's a quick read to be managed in one sitting. This book doesn't set out to do much when it comes to characters, themes, or moral. Yet as a picture of warmth, community, and the joys of simple, country living, it exceeds richly. Brambly Hedge is a world worth wandering in for a while, and I'd recommend stopping in for tea and cake along the way. I'd definitely plan on giving these books to my kids someday!
May 15, 2022
The Autumn story has more of an adventure plot than the rest, and a hint of fall-time eeriness as little Primrose is lost amongst the Brambles. I loved this one and it’s going right to the top of my favorite Autumn children’s reads. The illustrations are beyond gorgeous and full of the lush Autumn colors one craves during these late year months.
Absolutely in love.🌹
Absolutely in love.🌹
April 28, 2023
La historia de la pequeña Rosalía está acompañada por magníficas ilustraciones.
Rosalía se pierde por el bosque mientras explora cada rincón, va cayendo la noche y es incapaz de encontrar el camino a casa.
Aprenderá una lección muy valiosa siempre acompañada del cariño de sus allegados.
Rosalía se pierde por el bosque mientras explora cada rincón, va cayendo la noche y es incapaz de encontrar el camino a casa.
Aprenderá una lección muy valiosa siempre acompañada del cariño de sus allegados.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 186 reviews