Into the Forest

Rating:
Summary: A Forest Full of Strange Trees
Review: If you are familiar with folk tales you may understand Into the Forest. Anthony Brown has cleverly designed a journey through the woods to grandmother's house that sets up familiar expectations and raises more questions than it answers. The book invokes the anxieties of childhood, particularly feeling lost and wondering where one's parents have disappeared to -- a bit like a bad dream where nothing actually happens. The forest is exquisitely drawn in grey pencil. Every leaf is perfectly placed on the forest floor, while the wild trees tangle together above. The longer you look, the more you see -- strange forms and figures, many recognizable from folk tales, are hidden in the tree shapes. Although I am intrigued by this book, I would only sit down to read it with my child when I am feeling secure and ready to talk with him about his anxieties and strange dreams.