Into The Forest: For Children With Feelings of Anxiety (Therapeutic Fairy Tales): A Book Review
This article first appeared in the NY Journal of Books on 31 May 2023.
Into the Forest is the third book in the second volume of the Therapeutic Fairy Tales series, a collection of books created by author Pia Jones and illustrator Sarah Pimenta to “open up conversations that enable children and families’ own stories and feelings to be seen and heard.”
Each book in the series is geared toward children experiencing specific psychological and life challenges—living with OCD, having feelings of loneliness, living with a parent suffering from depression—and Into the Forest was produced for children with feelings of anxiety. The book is a pertinent and timely addition to the genre, given the dramatic increase in children experiencing anxiety in recent years: 9.4% of children aged 3–17 years (approximately 5.8 million) were diagnosed with anxiety in 2016–2019, and that number has only increased since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
True to its designation as a fairy tale, Into the Forest begins like a Rudyard Kipling story: “Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived at the edge of a town before the forest began.” In lyrical prose that is clearly meant to be read aloud by an adult, the book describes the physical sensations the boy increasingly experiences as, despite how others admire his outer confidence, anxiety begins to overtake him. “It crept into his stomach, fizzy and tense.” “It gripped his chest” and “made his mind race.” These physical symptoms of anxiety are something everyone has felt, at least from time to time; but most children (and many adults) don’t notice, much less recognize, these early physiological responses to psychological duress. The teaching moment is pertinent and well-placed.
As the boy is riding his bike after school, he finds himself frantically pedaling down a forested path he’d not noticed before and leaping into a world of mythical arboreal presence. Through this experience, involving intense conversation with an owl, the boy learns the magic of stillness, and silence, and nature. The message provides another important teaching moment, preferably obtained in full by walking together quietly into a nearby forest after reading this book.
Though the repetitive use of the phrase “What if?” may grow tiresome, the read-aloud lyricism of the first half of the story is quite enjoyable, However, the second half of the book can read preachy at times and, despite areas that are almost reminiscent of a Shel Silverstein story, could use more editing/condensing.
Sarah Pimenta’s illustrations are impressive, and the paper on which they are printed makes them more so. Pimenta’s extensive experience as an artist, lecturer, and educator in creativity is clear. Her specialist art form is print making, which is more recognizable on a T-shirt than in a children’s picture book, thereby adding even more texture and originality to the images that span the pages of this large, 9.75 x 9.75-inch book. It is worth purchasing Into the Forest just to look at and discuss Pimenta’s illustrations and how they were created
Into the Forest is a book worth reading with your young child, particularly if they or you are experiencing anxiety. The story is calming and at times beautifully written. The illustrations are enchanting. And the message is a good start or reminder to take time out of the busy human world, reconnect with nature, and exercise one’s ability to be still and present—advice that’s good for everyone, regardless of age.
