Lost in the Woods

Lost in the Woods, Fun London (2011)
Length: 32 pages
Genre: Children's Books
Started: 1 September 2012
Finished: 3 September 2012
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
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This story is about Jack, a boy whose father has died fighting a fire. Jack is very angry and sad because of this, and at the beginning of the story he is not in control of his emotions. However, he soon has an adventure that will change his way of looking at life forever.

There are many characters introduced throughout the book that may be confusing, such as the oddball Marvin, unfriendly leader of the pack of dogs, who refers to himself in the third person; however, the adventure aspect grabs the reader, especially halfway into the book.

I love Allen's peculiar logic, because his trail of thinking does make sense, in a way, though it may be unreasonable. However, I dislike his "and so forth and so on," although it does show a lot about Allen's personality: He's a very composed squirrel, a perfectionist, one who always talks formally; "I must object". Although he has good intention, he also is very indecisive.

The 'army of ants' mentioned in the book reminded me a lot of the book The Survivors.

In the end the story left me hanging as to where Jack has been. Was it all in his mind or did he really go there, and no time passed?

I loved how they all came together to fight the fire -- Boris the groundhog and Angel the eagle and Jack and Allen-- I love how they all understand the consequences if they don't work together. And how Angel was wise and cautious enough to not celebrate immediately, tempting as it might have been, for the welfare of all. Jack was the main character, but if not for Angel's wisdom all would have burned, for if she had not countered Allen's logic that "a rock does not burn," then maybe the whole forest would have burned and a great many animals would have lost their homes.

Give this to fans of Robyn Hill's GRUM!, they will go crazy for it.

Memorable Quotes~~~

• The piece of bark he grabbed peeled from the tree, and he windmilled his arms desperately. Just when he regained his balance, the branch he stood on cracked and tipped downward, spilling Jack outward into the air.
• Soon after Jack and Allen disappeared into the sea of golden stalks, the rustling sounds they had heard on the way to Blueback Mountain started up again. As their tension grew, their conversation died, leaving only the strange noises to fill the air. When the rustling suddenly got louder and closer, they both stopped walking. Any doubt Jack had as to the dogs’ intention evaporated when they bared their fangs and began to growl. One large gray and tan dog stepped forward from the others.