The Minpins

Someday someone will write a book that begins with a mother forbidding her child to enter the deep dark woods and ends with that child achieving incredible success without ever setting a toe in the forbidden forest. But not this book. Here, Billy's mom issues a few scary warnings about the woods to her son--"Beware! Beware! The Forest of Sin! None come out, but many go in!"--turns her back for a second, and the next thing you know the devil shows up and whispers something to Bobby about wild strawberries. Blammo! Guess where Billy goes--straight to the forbidden forest, of course. At this point, if you are reading the story aloud to your child, you may think there's a parable on the way. But just when you might expect to run into monsters named Lust, Avarice and Three-Toed Sloth (okay, maybe not Lust), a real monster comes careening along and you realize that this story is just a fairy tale after all--and quite a lovely one at that.

The Minpins taps into the powerful, wonderful child's fantasy of discovering a hidden civilization of tiny folk that accepts and honours him or her. The very best part of this fairy tale is the denouement, where Billy receives the gift of nightly escape on the wings of a swan. One of Roald Dahl's only picture books--with fabulously crosshatched pen-and-ink illustrations by Patrick Benson--The Minpins is superb for reading aloud to children. And it culminates in a sentence or two of advice that your children just might remember for the rest of their lives. (Ages 3 to 8)

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Aaaaaah - Rated
Bloody scary. I thought so when I was three - now I'm eighteen and I'm still terrified.

Sure Pleasure - Rated
I have just bought this Book, in amazement! I was dumbfounded to find yet another Roald Dahl Book. (Believing I had the full list).
What a true Treasure Roald Dahl was to Children of all ages.
He made you feel, you don't want to grow old.
I refuse even when I reach 100years, I tell all my friends.
Including Family.
What an absolute loss, to us all.
I am only sad I never met him.
I think if I had I would have been lost for words.
The Genious of the Man.
To get right inside the heads of all of us, who read his magnificent works.
He belongs in the top Places among Shakespeare etc...
God Bless him!
I would like to thank him, for the Pleasure he has given me and mine. Sincerely June Chorlton.
ps May more of his works turn up, to be Illustrated by Patrick Benson. Amazing Illustrations too.
What a Legacy!!!!!

Wonderful Story, Wonderful Illustration! - Rated
As soon as I unwrappd this book I was stunned by the wonderful illustration work, the story was excellent too! Very difficult to give it to my son, I wanted to keep it for myself!

Captivating magic! - Rated
Billy wanders into the woods and is trapped there by the Red-Hot Smoke-Belching Gruncher. He encounters the tiny Minpins who live in trees, fly on birds and walk upside down on branches with suction boots. With their help Billy defeats the scary monster and returns home. This is a beautifully written and illustrated book. My six year old was absolutely captivated by it.