The Child That Books Built

Francis Spufford

Editions

Review

Francis Spufford’s new book is a curious amalgam of autobiography and criticism.  He was a child with a serious book habit (a novel a day) and he believes that by reacquainting himself with his early landmarks, he will be able to map the mental trerrain of his childhood and adolescence.  He divides the books into four categories – The Forest (e.g. Maurice Sendak’s The Wild Things), The Island (e.g. C S Lewis’s Narnia books), The Town (e.g. Laura Ingalls Wilder), and Holes (science fiction) – which he takes to represent distinct stages of his own development.  Spufford writes so well that he manages to make what, in other hands, could be a highly self-indulgent account into a riveting and highly entertaining book that will surely become required reading for anybody with a real interest in children’s literature. - review by Johnny de Falbe

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