I typically enjoy reading longer books with my daughter. In today’s world of instant gratification and binge watching, there’s something exciting about having to wait a whole day to pick up a story and find what happened to our heroes. Often a longer book, such as Alice Through the Looking Glass, can take us several weeks to finish depending on how much we read a night.

However, sometimes we need a break from longer books. So for a change of pace, every so often, we’ll take a night off and read a picture book instead. I’ve done this when we’re in the middle of a larger book or in between longer books.

One of our favorite picture book authors/illustrators is Elsa Beskow. Elsa was a Swedish author who wrote over forty children books in the early 1900s. Her illustrations have a very unique style managing to be both colorful yet subdued at the same time. They have a dreamlike appearance about them that works great for bedtime reading when you’re trying to settle your child down.

I also use picture books when story time needs to be cut short, either because we’re getting to bed too late and/or Dad is too tired. One can easily read Children of the Forest in under 10 minutes.

My Review of Children of the Forest

One of our go-to Elsa Beskow stories is Children of the Forest. Published in 1910, the story follows the adventures of four forest children: Tom, Harriet, Sam and Daisy. The children play with talking animals, meet a troll and some fairies, attend school taught by an owl, and prepare for winter by harvesting nuts, berries, and mushrooms.

Like many of Beskow’s stories, Children of the Forest puts a lot of emphasis on the seasons and the cyclical character of nature. We start the story in what appears early summer and follow the children until the nest spring.

It is also worth noting for bedtime readers, there isn’t anything too scary in the book. The children’s father does fight and kill a snake that is trying to harm them. However, the image is not that scary and that section can easily be skipped. One nice thing about reading aloud is that parents can adjust the story for their individual children’s tolerances. For example, my daughter loves when I use my evil troll laugh.

The Illustrations are Amazing

As always, when picking a read-aloud book, I want a book with a ton of colorful illustrations to keep my daughter’s attention. Beautiful illustrations adorn every page of this 32-page picture book. Typically one page of the spread has a black-and-white sketch, along with the text, while the next page is a full-page colored illustration.

Another factor to consider when buying children books is can you comfortably read the book at a distance so the child can follow along and look at the pictures. The larger edition of the Children of the Forest is perfect for reading aloud. The font is large enough that it can be seen from a distance. In addition, there is the perfect amount of text on a page, giving children a chance to appreciate the illustrations without too much time elapsing before the page is turned. Page length is especially important when trying to keep a toddler’s attention.

I recommend this book to anyone with children who love nature and adventure. This is one of the picture books my daughter requests by name. I often find her making up how own stories about the children when we go for nature walks, for as the story ends:

“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.”

Children of the Forest

Where to buy Children of the Forest

You can buy the full-sized Children of The Forest at Amazon.

It’s also available in a Mini-Edition and as part of a set at Amazon. The set includes Children of the Forest, The Flowers’ Festival, Pelle’s New Suit, Woody, Hazel and Little Pip and Princess Sylvie.

Other Great Picture Books by Elsa Beskow

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