In Fields and Woods

Brunswick Press published two richly illustrated works about New Brunswick's natural history. In Where Wild Flowers Grow, Tim and Jan are sent to stay with their grandparents in New Brunswick after years of living in Europe. In the follow-up, In Fields and Woods, they are joined by their cousins Bill and Joan. Each book contains three stories about the children exploring a different part of the countryside while learning about the flora and fauna. The books are similar in design. 

The stories in Where Wild Flowers Grow — "Down the River Road," "The Secret Hollow," and "The Marigold Swamp," — are set in the spring, whereas the stories of In Fields and Woods — "In Sunny Fields," "Shopping in the Woods," "The Autumn Woods" — take place in the summer and fall. Besides teaching about plants and animals, the stories give directions on how to make crafts using natural materials, such as a daisy chain or baskets out of burdock flowers. The detailed, colorful illustrations on almost every page distinguish these books. As well as several full-page landscape scenes, there are many precise horticultural paintings labelling plants and flowers of the region. A few black-and-white illustrations are also included. The style of illustration and overall aesthetic has an innocent quality of a bygone era. Gillett acknowledges in the introduction that the publisher encouraged her to keep the design old-fashioned. 

Availability: Very rare. Outside of UNB Libraries and the New Brunswick Public Library Service, copies are rare in OCLC libraries and in the used book trade.