Into The Forest

"I think Anthony Browne is so good—especially when dealing with deep issues. He handles them in a sensitive, understated way. It took me a while to realize what was going on here: you’ve got a boy waking up in the middle of the night, woken up by a terrible sound. You see the lightning. When we first read it, you sort of assume there’s a storm. But I interpret the lightning as an argument. There’s an argument going on, and then dad’s not there in the morning. From this starting point, Anthony Brown embarks on a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. The little boy is sent to his grandmother’s house with a cake. The journey through the woods is a dream-scape and along the way we meet numerous well-known fairy tale characters. “In this story the grandmother is a linchpin keeping things together in times of need” I think this is the essence of this book is that it’s all about that role of grandparents to kind of be the other parents, to be there in times of need. Clearly this is a time of need. He’s going to see Granny because Mum and Dad had an argument, so Dad left. Dad left for the night. Stormed out, I imagine. In this story, the grandmother is a linchpin keeping things together in times of need. That’s a really important role of grandparents, I think. They are the ones that mum and dad will call when they have arguments, when they need a babysitter, when there’s a family emergency. That steadfastness is so key. The family is all back together again at the end, which is so interesting. It’s so challenging artistically to see Mum right at the end—to see that she’s drawn in this kind of very realistic style, whereas right at the start, she’s drawn in a more cartoon-type style. There’s just so much for the kids to discover and appreciate here in terms of the different styles Anthony has used throughout the book, combined with dabbling into the world of fairy tales as a way of bringing to light our deepest, darkest fears. It’s just so intelligently done."