Thursday, November 15, 2012

Top ten books of the forest

Sara Maitland is the author of several books including Book of Silence and Daughter of Jerusalem, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award in 1978. Her latest book is From the Forest: A Search for the Hidden Roots of our Fairytales.

For the Guardian, she named her top ten books of the forest. One title on the list:
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

One of the best picture books ever – so it is not at all surprising (though lucky for me) that the wild things are in a very wild wood. The story follows the pattern of the old fairytales: the young hero goes into a forest that is genuinely frightening. But thanks to his own courage and independence, he earns a kingdom and comes home to a hot supper. It is one of the few modern and original children's books.
Read about the other books on the list.

Where the Wild Things Are is one of Anthony Browne's six best books.

--Marshal Zeringue