William Vincent Carleton

Stories for the quiet hour before sleep

Illustrated books for children and the grown-ups who read with them, from a small publishing house in Killingworth, Connecticut.

Browse the books Heartwood cards

Cover: Ruben Goes South, a night book of the long water, by William Vincent Carleton. A hummingbird flies past two children on an autumn porch.

Cover: Place of the Flower Fields, a night book of Xochimilco, by William Vincent Carleton. Two children, a small white Chihuahua and a man ride a flower-decked boat on a canal.

Cover: Ruben Comes North, a night book of the return, by William Vincent Carleton. Two children sit on a porch by a red feeder and morning glories.

The series

87 books so far.

Cover of My Perfect Chihuahua, a book of Milu, by William Vincent Carleton

A Small Bundle of Forests and Nights

34 books

Cover of SWAMI AND LAKSHMI, a night book of the northern cardinal, by William Vincent Carleton

Yard Saints

12 books

Cover of BABY DEE, a night book of the first chirp, by William Vincent Carleton

The Engine Series

10 books

Cover of The Plot Is Yours, A small ground, and no guilt in it, by William Vincent Carleton

Gardens for Children

10 books

Cover of The Cold That Warms You, A Saturday walk when the air is honest, by William Vincent Carleton

In the Woods

11 books

Cover of Nighttime Enemies and Inner Light, A fox, a blank sign, and a mirror that would not lie, by William Vincent Carleton

In the Night

8 books

Cover of CODEX OF THE HEXAGON, a field manual of the hive and of consciousness, by William Vincent Carleton

Other Books

2 books

A Small Bundle of Forests and Nights

Mexico Night Journeys

eleven books of canals, ridges, stairs, markets, and mist

PLACE OF THE FLOWER FIELDS

a night book of Xochimilco

THE CITY THEY NAMED FOR GODS

a night book of Teotihuacan

THE SERPENT OF LIGHT

a night book of the Itza Maya

THE FOREST KEPT A PALACE

a night book of Palenque

THE QUIET ROOMS OF JADE

a night book of the Maya in the museum

THE HOUSE THE NIGHT BUILT

a night book of Uxmal

See all eleven Día de Muertos

The near woods

Yard Saints

SWAMI AND LAKSHMI

a night book of the northern cardinal

RUBEN

a night book of the ruby-throated hummingbird

RUBEN GOES SOUTH

a night book of the long water

RUBEN COMES NORTH

a night book of the return

THE SNOW BIRD

a night book of the dark-eyed junco

WHAT MORNING COSTS

a night book of the first hour

All twelve Yard Saints

Heartwood · a Carleton imprint

Nature works in one word.

[Heartwood intro pending, William/Sage]

See the collections

Weddings & Events

Small, exact things

A wedding is made of small, exact things: the way one of you laughs, the street where you met, the word your grandmother used for love.

Weddings & Events

Journal

Letters from the house

New books, cards, and notes from the work, by email.

[Substack signup embed goes here once the Substack exists]

About the journal