Product Description

An atmospheric exploration of a child's anxiety by the 2000 Hans Christian Andersen Medal Winner. One night a boy is woken by a terrible sound. A storm is breaking, lightning flashing across the sky. In the morning Dad is gone and Mum doesn't seem to know when he'll be back. The next day Mum asks her son to take a cake to his sick grandma. "Don't go into the forest," she warns. "Go the long way round." But, for the first time, the boy chooses to take the path into the forest, where he meets a variety of fairy tale characters and discovers the fate of his father.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11426 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Review
An extraordinary book tacking painful emotion... A tonic, even for children with reason to be insecure." The Observer; "Seems likely to be counted as one of [Anthony Browne's] most significant works." The Children's Bookseller"

About the Author
Anthony Browne is one of the most popular and stylistically distinctive children's book artists, with a number of outstanding titles to his credit including "Gorilla" and "The Tunnel." In 2000, he won the illustration section of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award for his services to children's literature. He lives with his family in Kent.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic story with outstanding illustrations
This book is a literary and visual gem. It deals with a young child's imagination as he ventures into the forest to face his fears. Anthony Browne creates a book literally crammed full of enchantment. The illustrations are extraordinary - if you look very carefully in every picture, you will find a haunting remnant from a fairytale - three bears creeping through the woods, an axe stuck in a tree, Cinderella's lost slipper... Combining all the traditional forest fairytales (Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, Hansel & Gretel, The Three Little Pigs) with Jack & the Beanstalk, Snow White, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, the book is eerie and sinister, but a happy ending awaits the reader. This book is well written and beautifully illustrated. As a teacher, I feel that this story should be shared with as many children as possible for its thematic content and enchanting illustrations (and the adults will fall in love with it too!) Very highly recommended!

Another Gem
My two year old just adores Anthony Browne's books and this is a special favourite with the wonderful illustrations which are so detailed and intricate. A visual gem.

The story definitely has a dark and almost scary feeling to it but he just revels in finding all the different things hidden in the forest. Each time we open the book there is another just waiting to be found.

Another masterpiece and an introduction to the wonderful subtly of black and white images.

Delightful and Intelligent!
This is a great multi-layered book for children. The first time I flicked through it, I got the Little Red Riding Hood reference but looking more closely at the pictures, I realized there was so much more to the book than just being a modern twist to a classic fairy tale.

This book is really clever - the pictures in the forest are rich in detail and great for little minds to explore. To really understand the fairy tale references, the child you're buying this for will need to be aware of fairy tale stories like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Hansel and Gretel etc - it's a fantastic book that encourages discussion and sharing of ideas. Any literature that is enjoyable to read and gets young children thinking in this kind of multi-layered way is going to get a high rating from me!