Children of the Forest

I was very upset after having put this book on my 3 year old dau

I was very upset after having put this book on my 3 year old daughter's Christmas wishlist for family members...it's the mini edition, which yes, means it is very tiny in size as listed in the description, however, what they do not list is that this is not the original "Children of the Forest"  (and no I do not mean the one written in Swedish). I've been renting Elsa Beskow books from the library for over a year repeatedly because my daughter loved the stories in them, all written in verse- which I also enjoyed reading. The book we received is not the same story, but seems like some sort of americanized version of the one we've been reading from the library, I would go so far as to say it is completely different less the pictures being the same. My daughter particularly likes the page about the Ogre with a line something like "past his slimy doorstep stealthily they go" and then he pokes his head out and scares the children and they "tumble down the hill scraping knees on sticks and stones, the ogre simply laughs and says "ho! ho! ho! I thought I'd laugh so hard i'd fracture these old bones" ....NOWHERE to be read on the "troll" page in this version. All of the kids are given names, and the bat is given a name and the focus is more on name giving and going through the story than in the real book that puts the focus on the feeling of adventure the children are having....again, so disappointed. Wish I would have known, now I'm stuck with a book that I don't want to read to my daughter and that I can't return due to lack of a gift receipt.  

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A beautfiul story with enchanting illustrations. We are tremend

A beautfiul story with enchanting illustrations. We are tremendous fans of Elsa Beskow books and this is no exception.

I should have paid a bit better attention to the size of the book however, I didn't realize this one was such a small copy.

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Enchanting Harmony

This is yet another wonderful book by gifted author/illustrator Elsa Beskow. Children and the young at heart can't help being swept away into a charming world of little people who work and play in harmony with the wild creatures of the forest. Great themes and lessons to be learned in a delightful format.

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Enchanting & Inspiring

I have purchased three books by Elsa Beskow, and just finished placing an order for a 4th book of hers. These books are difficult to find in book stores, but should be brought back to the front of children's literature. I gave 'Children of the Forest' to my son, now 3-1/2 years old, for Christmas. He loves it, as he does the other works we own by the same author. It is an enchanting story of a family of small people who live in the forest in harmony with their surroundings and fellow forest-dwellers (except a vicious viper who the father spears - this is one part of the story I skim past rather quickly). The children play hide-and-seek with the squirrels, help their parents put up food for the winter, and help feed the less prepared forest creatures in the winter when food is difficult to find under the snow. Elsa Beskow must have been in touch with the 90's 'back to the earth' movement before her time, as this is definetely a book that is very connected to living harmoniously on the earth with our fellow four-legged, winged, and creepy-crawler relations.

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