Children of the Forest: Mini Edition (Elsa Beskow Mini) Hardcover – Picture Book, 22 Sept. 2005

Lovely story and illustrations.

Beautiful illustrations

The beautiful story of a little family of forest people living under a tree. The four children wear red and white bonnets like toadstools, and this is an account of their days among the trees - playing with squirrels, riding on a bat, meeting a toad by the pool. There are dangers - father has to don his pine-cone armour to do battle with a viper, and when the boys poke an ants' nest they get stung. Not to mention the troll...Then there's picking fruit and mushrooms for the winter.Gradually summer comes to an end. "Mist settled in the hollows like white breath and the children played at leapfrog with the rabbits until it was time for bed." Time for the children to go to Mrs Owl's school and for Father to weatherproof the home; but also fun in the snow, harnessing a hare to their sledge and taking food to their neighbours.And then spring returns - birds nesting, a chance to paddle in the thawed stream, and "they had a new, round, pink baby brother of their own." (Lovely b/w drawing of the whole family out walking, father in his pinecone hat, an axe over his shoulder, while mother has baby tied to her back and children follow behin.)This could easily have turned into a sentimental, sickly work. After all, there's no major storyline. And yet the author manages to keep it an absolutely delightful read which any little girl (or adult, come to that!) would adore.

Children of the Forest ends with the following lines :" A new year was beginning in the forest and this is where we must leave the children. But if you like, think about them and their forest friends, and that way, their story will never end."This is one of those children's books that appeals to children with lots of imagination. The illustrations are absolutely divine, and the mixture of reality and fantasy is fantastic and includes both little people, trolls, and fairies. There is nothing modern or unsettling about the Children of the Forest, indeed it can seem a bit 'old fashioned' at times, but isn't that great in this day and age? I also found that my children wanted to continue talking about the Children of the Forest and make up their continued stories for a long time after the book was finished. You can also extend the story by letting your fantasy run further by making mushroom hats like those the Children of the Forest wear from papier mache, and you will have lots of fun together as a family.

Delightful book for my 5 year old. Younger children may not like the one page in which the father has to kill a snake to protect the children. The illustrations are beautiful.

This book is very special, I read it to my three and six year old boys at bedtime and they always pay attention the whole time and really enjoy looking at the beautiful illustrations. It's a small book but the story is reasonably long, not overly, just perfect for a bedtime story.

lovely short story for the little ones - they all love it four to eight years old. Can even read it themselves - wonderful pictures with it.

The pictures are beautiful and timeless although unfortunately the book is too small to really show them to any great effect. The text is dated (as you might expect from a book first published in 1910 but nevertheless irritating) and disappointing. There are typing errors, gender stereotypes (the boys are allowed spears and the girls expected to prepare food), and unexpected and violent death (they kill a snake then carry its body around). Furthermore, the story is rambling with unnecessary time spent in naming everyone and everything (yes, even the slayed snake has a name) and little depth. I wouldn’t recommend it. Instead, I’d love larger prints of the beautiful illustrations. You can keep the text.