White Deer In Books

White deer have inspired stories for centuries.  However, books about white deer or with white deer characters are as rare as the real thing.  Here are a few from Wisconsin’s South Central Library System.  Check your library listings if you are outside this system.

A Magical Winter by Carl F. Sams and Jean Stoic
Photos of a real life white deer illustrate this fictional children’s book, creating a magical story out of a magical experience.

white-deer-a-magical-winter-carl-sams
White Deer; Ghosts of the Forest
by Jeff Richter and John Bates

A photo journal of the white deer population in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin.  Essays on the magic, science, history, and perils (both human and natural) of the white deer.  Beautiful photos!

White Deer-White Deer; Ghosts of the Forest

The Night the White Deer Died by Gary Paulsen. 
A meeting of age and culture and a story of redemption, symbolized by a white deer that appears in a recurring dream.  By prolific and masterful writer and outdoor enthusiast Gary Paulsen.  Fiction.

White Deer-The Night the White Deer Died (Paulson)

The White Deer by James Thurber
A fairy tale about three princes who attempt perilous tasks to win the hand of a princess who was once a beautiful white deer.

White Deer-The White Deer (Thurber)

Nacar, the White Deer by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
A fictionalized account, based on an actual 17th century record, about a white deer that was to be sent from the New World to the King of Spain and presented with a gold collar.

White Deer-Nacar Book-2

The White Deer and Other Stories Told by the Lenape  (edited by John Bierhorst)
Collected and authentic stories from the Lenape Indian tribe of the Hudson and Delaware River valleys in the northeastern U.S.

White Deer-The White Deer-Lenape Stories

Night of the White Deer by Jack Bushnell
A fable for children from a Wisconsin author:  “The boy had heard the old stories about a mysterious white deer that appeared among the fields of corn. Some said she had been formed from a star that fell to the earth; others said she had risen up from some tanks of spilt milk.”

White Deer-Night of the White Deer-2

Christmas In Camelot by Mary Pope Osborne
Part of the “Magic Tree House” series, the main characters in this children’s book, Jack and Annie, are carried by a white stag to the Otherworld in a quest to save Camelot.

White Deer-Tree House Kids-Camelot (crop)