Into the Forest

 

Anthony Browne
Walker Books
Age 7-9 years

With strong parallels to Little Red Riding Hood, a young boy is sent to his poorly grandma’s house with a basket of food and instructed not to go through the forest. Of course, he disobeys this instruction and is soon walking through a strange, enchanted forest full of references to familiar fairy tales. An unsettling mood is created from the outset but be assured there is a happy ending. The illustrations are brilliant and slightly surreal with lots of details to spot. The contrast with black and white for the forest and colour for the main character is very effective.

Share the story

Read the book
Before you start reading the book talk about the cover and title page illustrations together. What might happen in this story?

Read the book to your child* pausing to talk about what is happening in the text and illustrations as you do.

*Although your child may be able to read the words in the story independently there is a lot to be gained from reading a picture book together – and there is so much to read or discover in the illustrations as well as in the text.

Join in
Once familiar with the book encourage your child to join in with parts eg the sticky notes or the conversations.

Talk about the story
◼︎ Discuss anything your child finds puzzling and wants to talk about for example they may want to talk about why dad disappeared.
◼︎ Look closely at the illustrations to spot the details
◼︎Choose a favourite illustration and talk about it
◼︎ Talk about the use of black, white and colour
◼︎Talk about any other stories this one remind you both of.

Things to make and do

Role play a scene from the story
Choose a scene from the story – the breakfast table or an encounter in the forest and role play the conversation – adding your own imaginative bits of conversation. You could also role play an additional scene, for example a conversation with dad about where he went.

Create sound effects
Look at the illustration at the beginning of the book of the storm. Using your voices or improvised percussions instruments try to create the sounds of the storm including wind, rain and thunder. You could try starting quietly, getting louder and then dying down.

Make a monochrome collage
With your child create a collage forest. You could use strips torn or cut from newspapers and stick onto a large sheet of paper eg wallpaper lining paper.

With pencil, paint or felt tips add a detail or two – this could be faces drawn in the trees, a character in the story or something imaginary eg a colourful bird.

Find out more

Find out more about Anthony Browne

Read more books by this author/illustrator.

Titles include:
Bear Hunt, Gorilla, The Tunnel, Willy the Wimp, Piggy Book
See our activity page for My Dad