Fern Hollow is a wonderful place to live. Ask Professor Sigmund Swamp or old Brock Gruffy to tell you about their lovely little village and they will talk all day and yet hardly have begun. They will tell you that Fern Hollow nestles at the foot of the trees of Windy Wood and that through the village runs the sparkling ribbon of the River Ferny. The animals of Fern Hollow are all good friends and neighbours, and if you are a stranger they will make you feel at home in next to no time.
In this title:
One night a terrible storm hits Fern Hollow. Lightning flashes, thunder crashes and the rain comes pouring down. Mr Rusty's house is flooded and he and his family are forced to take refuge on the roof! Things look very bad for the Rusty family. What are they going to do?
That night there was a terrible thunder storm. Lightning flashed around the sky and it rained cats and dogs.
In the morning the River Ferny, which had become swollen with all the rain, overflowed and rushed down into the hollow where Mr. Rusty's house stood. The water crept up higher and higher until, at last, Mr. Rusty and his family had to climb up on to the roof.
When Mr. Periwinkle the mailman came riding down the lane and saw Mr. Rusty and his family all perched on their cottage roof, he was so surprised that he fell off his bicycle.
"Don't worry, Mr. Rusty," cried Mr. Periwinkle, scrambling to his feet. "I'll ride over to the fire station and gets Alphonso Duff and Mr. Bouncer - they'll know what to do."
This is one of the stories from original series one of the 17 titles in the 1980s classic Tales from Fern Hollow series. This gentle story, written and illustrated by John Patience, has eight detailed, colourful and cheerful double-page spreads depicting the animal characters of the village of Fern Hollow, tucked away somewhere in the countryside of Edwardian England. As the inhabitants of Fern Hollow go about their daily lives, there are small adventures to enjoy and little mishaps to overcome. Everyone lends a helping hand and there's always a happy ending - and usually a feast for everyone to share in celebration.
The map on the endpapers helps children find their way around the village and appeared in every single title in the Fern Hollow series. Children really love the map and enjoy pointing out where all their favourite Fern Hollow characters live and all the stories take place.
These stories of animal folk have an enduring charm. A generation of people who had the Fern Hollow stories read to them as children have now grown up and are buying the books to read with their own children, nieces and nephews. Parents who read the books with their children back in the 1980s and 1990s are now enjoying them all over again with their grandchildren.
The charming Fern Hollow stories have remained popular since they were first published in 1980.
John trained in typography and book design at the Harris College in Preston, Lancashire, UK and worked briefly as a designer for a couple of publishers in London, England. Later, he did various jobs to earn a living, whilst developing his writing and illustrating skills and trying to get his own children's books published. John's first self-authored illustrated children's book was published in 1980 - The Seasons in Fern Hollow. Since then he has had more than 100 titles published in many countries around the world and translated into many languages - including his retellings of many of the classic fairy tales by Hans Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault and others. John has written, designed and illustrated both "flat" books and pop-up books including doing the paper engineering. He is perhaps best known for his Tales from Fern Hollow series of children's books which were first published in the 1980s and 1990s.
