Based on a true story about the author's grandfather, Rebecca Bond'sOut of the Woods is a dramatic tale of survival featuring both animals and people.
Antonio Willie Giroux lived in a hotel his mother ran on the edge of a lake. He loved to explore the woods and look for animals, but they always remained hidden away. One hot, dry summer, when Antonio was almost five, disaster struck: a fire rushed through the forest. Everyone ran to the lake-the only safe place in town-and stood knee-deep in water as they watched the fire. Then, slowly, animals emerged from their forest home and joined the people in the water.
Miraculously, the hotel did not burn down, and the animals rebuilt their homes in the forest-but Antonio never forgot the time when he watched the distance between people and animals disappear.

Rebecca Bond's profile page

• Nominated, Texas Triple Crown Awards

Rebecca Bond is the author and/or illustrator of several books, includingInthe Belly of an Ox: The Unexpected Photographic Adventures of Richard and Cherry Kearton.Out of the Woods is the story of her grandfather, Antonio Willie Giroux. She grew up in the tiny village of Peacham in northeastern Vermont and lived in Jamaica Plain, Boston.

"A story valuable both as a glimpse into a bygone way of life and a record of a surreal, singular moment."—Publishers Weekly
"Awe-inspiring, exquisitely rendered, indeed "unforgettable."—Kirkus Reviews