View source for The Deep Dark Wood by Algy Craig Hall and Ali Pye

{{infobox2
|title=The Deep Dark Wood
|sort=Deep Dark Wood, The
|author=Algy Craig Hall and Ali Pye
|reviewer=Rachael Spencer
|genre=For Sharing
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781408325155
|pages=32
|publisher=Orchard Books
|date=January 2015
|aznuk=1408325152
|aznus=1408325152
|cover=1408325152
|summary=Take a trip through the Deep Dark Wood with the sweet little girl who is just trying to get to her best friend's house. But a Deep Dark Wood is no place for a sweet little girl; will she make it there in one piece? Not if the Big Bad Wolf has anything to do with it... A thoroughly entertaining read for all the family, which my son has already demanded be read roughly 500 times!
}}
Children love a fairytale. Forests, monsters, Little Red Riding Hood. They open up a world of possible adventures, wonder and mystery. The Deep Dark Wood taps into that format brilliantly, taking ideas and myths already deeply ingrained into our culture and creating a really fun story for children (and adults) to engage with.

I love the way the first two pages set you up instantly in the middle of the woods amongst the trolls and witches, also how well it sets up the rest of the story. This set up means that children can guess which characters the sweet little girl will meet next, which works well when reading with kids just starting to read, because it helps them start to put stories together.  With each page that we turned, my son loved this book more and more.  We laughed, growled and howled along with the Big Bad Wolf all the way through.

The character of the Big Bad Wolf is incredibly entertaining, I always enjoy and crafty and cunning character in a book, and he works wonderfully. Even better than this is the twist at the end, which I won’t give away here because I think you should find out about it for yourselves. It’s a really nice new take on an old genre of story, something which I always have enjoyed, and this is no exception. The illustrations have a very modern feel to them, which drag you right into the story head first, a good mix between humour and showing off the terror of the woods. I particularly like the fact the girl is wearing red, it feels like a particularly nice little nod to Little Red Riding Hood.

Overall, I thought this was a particularly strong book for sharing. I had a great time reading it, and it’s kept us entertained for a few nights now. It’s obviously already made its way on to my son’s ‘Must Read’ shelf, no doubt to be repeated, often! 

If you enjoyed this and you're looking for some more fairy tales, why not try [[My Favourite Fairy Tales by Tony Ross]]?  You might also enjoy [[The Adventures of Harry Stevenson by Ali Pye|The Adventures of Harry Stevenson]] from Ali Pye.

{{amazontext|amazon=1408325152}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=1408325152}}

{{commenthead}}
[[Category:Algy Craig Hall]]
[[Category:Ali Pye]]