Douglas Keister

Fernando's Gift/ El Regalo De Fernando Douglas Keister

Jacket Description/Back: Deep in the rain forest of Costa Rica, a boy named Fernando lives with his family in the tin-roofed house that his father has built. He can pick bananas right off the tree outside his door, and go swimming or fishing in the cool river nearby. Like his father and grandfather before him, Fernando has come to treasure the wonders of the lush tropical land that his family calls home. But when he and his friend Camina look for her favorite climbing tree and find it cut down, Fernando learns that not everyone has respect for his beautiful forest. This gentle tale, presented in both English and Fernando's native Spanish, will awaken a strong sense of kinship in young readers. Like Fernando, they will feel a new appreciation for the beauty and bounty of the precious, delicately balanced environment that is the rain forest. Publisher Marketing: "Large, crystal-clear full-color photographs and an engaging first-person bilingual narrative bring this simple story to life. . . . This is an appealing and repectful look at a beautiful part of the world and one family's struggle to preserve it." --School Library Journal "Superb natural history." --Smithsonian

Contributor Bio:  Keister, Douglas Chico, California-based photographer Douglas Keister has photographed twenty-two award-winning, critically acclaimed books. His seventeen books on architecture include four books on Victorian homes (Daughter's of Painted Ladies, Painted Ladies Revisited, America's Painted Ladies and Victorian Glory); three books on bungalow homes (The Bungalow, Inside the Bungalow and Outside the Bungalow), a book on 1920s whimsical homes (Storybook Style) a book about cemetery art and architecture (Going Out in Style), a book on Spanish architecture, (Red Tile Style), six books on bungalow details and Classic Cottages, that will be published by Gibbs Smith Publisher in the Spring of 2004. Keister photographed and wrote an award winning children's book (Fernando's Gift), has two monographs of his personal work (Black Rock and Driftwood Whimsy), a book on classic travel trailers, (Ready to Roll) and a book on cemetery symbolism, Stories in Stone: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Cemetery Symbolism, that will be published by Gibbs Smith Publisher in the Spring of 2004. His wealth of books on architecture has earned him the title, "America's most noted photographer of historic architecture."