Customer Reviews

Into the Forest

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Anthony Browne taps into the universal when he writes about a boy whose father disappears in the middle of the night, whose mother looks sad and worried in the morning, and then who is sent off with a cake to his ailing grandma's. He takes a shortcut through the forest, although he's been told not to, and meets several characters in the forest from well-known fairy tales. It turns out that he is part of a fractured fairy tale, himself, Little Red Riding Hood. The pencil drawings of the forest bring out the mood and emotions of the story, and the happy colors near the end reinforces the sense of relief that all the worry was not necessary.

This is a book you could read over and over, and that a child will pick up on her own to look at the pictures, because there are many details to pick up. Shadows are not what they seem (the one on the cover is a bunny rabbit) and on the Hansel and Gretel page, the shadow turns out to be Browne's kindly gorilla from earlier books. There are creatures in the trees, symbols of other fairy tales all around if you look carefully for them. There's even a one-legged tin soldier on the first page. Grandma's house has kitty ears.

This is a beautifully drawn and told story about confronting anxiety and worry. So many times children worry about what is going on in their grown-ups' lives, and they don't understand what is real and what isn't, and many times Mommy and Daddy are so worried themselves -- over a health crisis with an elderly parent, for instance -- that they don't take time to explain.

This book explains and puts it all into surreal fantastical perspective. I love picture books that work for both adults and children, and this one does wonderfully.

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.

Into The Forest tells a story resembling a bunch of other fairytales: Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Puss and Boots, Rapunzel, Rumple Stilt Skin, and a few others. Browne tells of a little boy taking food to his grandma who takes the short cut through the forest despite his mother requesting him to take the long way. He encounters characters from past fairytales on his way to his grandma's house. It is interesting to note how the boy remains in color and the past stories are in black and white. When he gets to his grandma's house, his father is also there, who was missing in the beginning. This book is a good story for children who have read the stories that this metafictional book makes reference to within itself. It is a lighthearted, fun book to read to children and to try and note all the previous stories.

Antonin Brown sets a very creative mood for the readers because along with reading the story, we find analogies of other fairy tales. The book starts off with a little boy being sent into the forest to deliver a cake for his very sick grandmother. He is feeling quite distressed because he hasn't seen his father for a while and he misses him greatly. The readers don't know why his father is missing, nor is the mother telling. During his travel through the woods, he's been warned by his mother not to take the short cut, but to take the longer safer route. As distracted as any other child gets, he takes the short cut and meets very interesting characters from other fairy tales. During his encounter, the background and the characters stay in a black and white while the little boy remains in color. The way the story was set up made it really suspenseful for the readers because upon the little boys encounter with the Little Red Riding hood, one might think that the wolf may be waiting for him instead of grandma. It was a relief to find that that was not the case because both his grandmother and father were there. For a child this would end the questioning about where the father was, but for the adult readers it would raise questions if the parents got in an argument and needed some time off. I think this is a great book for kids because it involves a child to be creative while reading and engaging beyond the text by finding anologies throughout. I would recommend this to any parent who is interested in empowering their childs imagination. Once again, great great book!!

After reading some of the negative reviews, I had some misgivings about reading this book with my 5-year-old, so I went ahead and read it by myself (to make sure the content would be appropriate for her). I felt the themes addressed in this book - childhood fears and anxiety were well done without going over the top, so I read it with her tonight. She enjoyed the book, and we spoke about fear and how to cope with our worries.

Despite the rather dark overtones at the beginning of the story (the boy in the story wonders why his father is missing and then goes on a trek through the woods to get to his sick grandma's house, something his mother specifically cautions him against), the story does lighten up eventually with a neat surprise at the end. The illustrations contain references to popular fairy tales, and part of the fun is trying to look for hidden objects and references to fairy tales scattered throughout the book and found hidden amongst the illustrations, e.g. Rapunzel's tower, the big bad wolf, etc. I think children under 5 might find this book a bit over their heads, and perhaps even scary, but older children might be able to appreciate the other aspects of the book, and might facilitate a discussion on fears and anxieties.

My 3 year old was given this book for his birthday and upon reading it we were distressed by its sombre nature.
Dad disappearing,mum looking nothing short of miserable at the breakfast table and then having no idea where he'd gone was beyond belief.After pasting "Come back dad" stickers all over the house the boy embarks on a journey through a forest.There he meets yet more sad children who are also looking for their parents.We found nothing in this book of benefit to a 3 year old,the illustrations were detailed but harrowing and the references to fairy tales cryptic.We want our 3 year old to be happy and enthusiastic about life so we have chosen not to add this book to his book shelf.Incidently dad does return but if I was mum I'd be suitably furious!!

Okay, while the author has good intentions, he's not in touch with children. Four year olds are not ready to deal with missing parents, issues of aging grandparents and subtle references to fairy tales our parents told us. This is a scary, spooky nightmarish story for a 4 year old. So, if you want your child up all night because you scared the dickens out of him/her, read this. If you care about your child, this is not a story for them.