Into the Woods

By Lyn Gardner and Mini Grey

Storm, Aurora, and Anything Eden live in a decaying mansion on the edge of the wilds with their erstwhile father and indolent mother. When an accident leaves them orphaned and at the mercy of the sinister Dr. DeWilde, these three courageous and eccentric sisters are forced to flee into the woods, where they encounter kidnappers, sweet-filled orphanages, mountains of ice, diamond mines, and some ravenously hungry wolves.Taking inspiration from numerous fairytales and weaving them into a wholly original story, Into the Woods is a whirlwind of a novel, full of imaginative happenings and dastardly deeds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Dec 24, 2008
• ISBN: 9780307496218

Lyn Gardner

Lyn Gardner is the author of Olivia's First Term and the other Olivia books. She was born in London and now lives near Richmond Park with her partner and two daughters. A theatre critic for The Guardian, she goes to the theatre five or six nights a week, which should leave no time for writing books at all. Before she became a journalist, Lyn was a tea lady, a waitress and sold advertising space for a magazine called Sludge. Her ambitions are to learn to tap dance and walk the high wire, but it may have to be the low wire as she is a bit scared of heights!

Reviews for Into the Woods

[c.vick · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Children's Books Too Cool For SchoolI think I’m starting to feel like something of a freak. You see, I just finished Into the Woods and I, well, really wasn’t all that enchanted.It’s a shame, too, because Into the Woods has all the makings of a very great send-up of all one’s favorite fairy tales. It draws from numerous sources including the Pied Piper, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and Jack and the Beanstalk... just to name a few! This, I think, runs the risk of creating a story that is either exiting or cluttered and, sadly, I think cluttered was the result. It also treads the fine line between homage and too derivative, and I bet you can guess what I think about that, too.The story begins with two sisters -- Storm (rather aptly, or perhaps obviously, named) and Aurora Eden (fans of Disney should have no trouble guessing which fairy tale character’s fate Aurora is supposed to succumb to) -- who are about to be joined by a third. Sadly, their beautiful mother (it is rumored their father was so captivated by her that he climbed her lovely hair to rescue her) is not very strong and childbirth takes its toll on her. As she lies wasting away in bed, she calls the irrepressible and irresponsible Storm to her side and entrusts her with a small, unremarkable pipe, which she warns Storm has incredible powers. Even Storm is unsure why she, and not the staid and stolid Aurora is being entrusted with this, but her mother assures her that Storm is the best choice for possession of such a powerful object. Then, alas, the beautiful mother passes away.Their father is mad with grief and locks himself away. Aurora, however, feels compelled to ask him what to name their new sister. "Anything," he replies. So they do, but they call her Any, mostly. Then, one day, their father simply disappears. And so they are orphaned, more or less. However, since their parents were always distant and neglectful, and Aurora always took care of the day to day business of running the household and caring for her sisters, little changes for the Eden family.Then one day Storm sneaks off into the woods (despite her sister's dire warnings of the dangers that await there) and stumbles upon a nearby hamlet that is having a problem with a rat infestation. They've called in a man, Dr. DeWilde, to lead the rats away, despite what happened to the children of the town the last time someone was called in to rid them of rats. Of course, the astute reader will have noted that DeWilde will probably need a pipe to lead the rats away, and that Storm happens to be in possession of a magical pipe. Unfortunately for the Eden sisters, it appears the evil doctor will stop at little to obtain the pipe and he has a pack of trained, bloodthirsty wolves on his side.So, the sisters must run into the relative safety of the woods in order to save the town, the pipe and their lives.There were some nice twists and turns and it was certainly fun, on occasion, to find the fairy tale references sprinkled everywhere. Nonetheless, there was very little about Into the Woods that felt particularly original to me, down to its title. Of course, the author should be familiar with the charming Sondheim musical, since she herself wrote a review of it. (This is Gardner’s first novel – she is known as a theater critic.) Sure, thanks to Ella Enchanted and its myriad of followers (or even the adult novels of Gregory Maguire), re-imagined fairy tales are a pretty hot thing in kids books these days, but, frankly, I’ve seen it done so much better. Anything by Ella’s author, Gail Carson Levine, or another favorite of mine, Shannon Hale, receives my hearty recommendation. However, with Into the Woods, the magic just really wasn't there. The novel was too busy, trying too hard, too derivative, and, apparently for me, lacking that je ne sais quoi. That is, apparently, French for “an ending that isn’t so cheesy it makes me want to hurl.”So why do I feel like a freak? Because everyone else seems to love it, so far. Not just kids either. I’ve seen reviews by perfectly sensible and competent adults who think it is just fabulous. So maybe it is just me. I think I’m losing my confidence! This book will sell best to girls – after all it is a fairy tale – in about the 9-11 age range. It’s fun. It’s fast paced. It’s not a total waste of time.PS-- As far as I can tell, the book's cover in the UK edition is exactly the same, only the background is red, not blue. Very odd. The illustrations are really great, by the way.

[robertalea-223265 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book tried my patience. It was interesting until it got to be too long. Several scenes could have reduced or even cut out completely and cut the length of the book by 50 pages or so.

[krau0098 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have had this book to read for quite awhile. I really enjoyed the beginning of this book but as the story progressed I found my attention lagging. There are cute illustrations throughout which made the story pretty fun.This is an interesting mash-up of folktales and fairy tales. There are little bits and pieces of many throughout. I actually started to find it a bit distracting sorting out which pieces of the story came from which fairy tales.This is a fairy tale that is pretty dark in tone. I enjoyed the characters of Storm, Aurora, and Eden. However, my attention started to wander when the girls got trapped in the evil witch’s candy cottage and from there went off to face the Piper. I think things just started to get a bit too contrived and weren’t flowing all that well which made the story harder to read.So, while I loved the style of writing in the beginning of the book...by the end of the book I started skimming through chapters because I was bored. I also disliked that this is one of those middle grade reads where every adult is either evil or ambivalent toward the children in it.Overall this is an okay middle grade dark fairy tale; the beginning was well done and the end was just boring. Personally I would skip it; there are much better middle grade fairy tale mash-ups out there. I would recommend checking out the A Tale Dark and Grimm series by Adam Gidwitz...it’s a darkly hilarious and hugely entertaining fairy tale mash up.

[turrean_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found the plot extremely hurried, and the characters rather flat. I like my fairy tales to come with a side-helping of redemption.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cute fairytale-with-a-twist story. A bit of the Pied Piper, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty mixed together, told with a Lemony Snicket style.

[jenj5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Be insteresting to see if this will be popular enough for the sequel the author pretty clearly has in mind to actually happen.

[iris2boullion · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Storm and her two sisters go on an adventure to escape the evil Dr. Dewilde and various other villians along the way. It all starts when their mom dies after giving birth to Any, and gives Storm a pipe which she is told to use wisly. Then their father leaves and they are forced to leave their home to get away from Dewilde. Later they learn that the pipe can control the people around it when played. They also learn that if Dewilde gets gets the pipe he will become un-stoppable. So with the help of some friends and each other they are able to stop Dewilde and keep the pipe safe. In the very end Storm throws the pipe into the ocean so nobody can use it's power for evil again. I loved this book. It was adventureous,funny amd every thing else. It is a mix of multiple fairytales combined into one fantastic book. I would recomend this book to anyone that likes fariy tales or the Grimm brothers. It is a good kids and adults book. It is the type of book that you can read over and over again. Anyone who dosen't like it is completly insane.

[jesouhaite · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Combining some elements from the fairy tales of Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, and the Pied Piper of Hamlin among others…Gardner weaves a story of sisterhood and adventure. Aurora, Storm, and Anything are as different as any sisters can be, but their love for one another holds them together through parental abandonment and great peril from the villainous Dr. DeWilde. Fans of the Sisters Grimm Series will love this book! Fantastic read-aloud! Ages 9-12

[linnaea44 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really like this enchanting story about three young girls on an adventure to save the town and their own lives. I loved the play on other classic stories like Hansel and Gretel. I think the author did a great job describing the characters and the scenery. The book was very adventurist and was fun to read. I think children would like it because there are parts that seem almost familiar and it plays on imagination. Great for art and writing your own story.

[kellyknox_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Into the Woods has a very clever concept that I think kids will find interesting, but it's not one of those kid's books that I read and think is just as engaging for an adult as for a child. The characters are a little flat, the plot is a little meandering, and there's just not much substance. Then though, this is in contrast to some truly stellar children's literature that I've been reading, so it should be said that this is of a higher quality than a lot of kid lit. I do think that it could be a fun chapter-a-night book, or chapter-a-week, and I do think that some plot points that will seem obvious and a little cheesy might be hilarious to young listeners.

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Aurora and Storm are left alone to look after their baby sister when their mother dies and their father leaves. With her dying breath, the mother bequests a musical pipe to Storm and tells her to use it wisely. Dr. DeWilde learns of the pipe and comes for it, forcing the children to run from him. As the children's flight progresses they learn what the Dr. is really up to and one of them is kidnapped. Now the remaining two girls must rescue their sister and stop the Doctor's evil scheme. On their journey the girls meet up with many fairy tale places and personages: the town where the Pied Piper played, a gingerbread house that enchants them, an ogress, wolves in the forest and more. This book was a lot of fun to read. It is also a quick read, even though it is thick, as it has large text and plenty of illustrations. The girls each have a distinct character and the baby sister is hilarious, rather like Sunny from Unfortunate Events. Ultimately, a good fun read with no deeper meanings that will appeal to the 8-11 crowd and anyone older who loves to read children's books.