the wild wood
I’ve got something to ask Charles de Lint at World Fantasy next week. I finished up FOUR AND TWENTY BLACKBIRDS this week (which you must read, I implore you; I shall write up a ringing endorsement on Endicott shortly) and segued right into THE WILD WOOD, an older novel that mentions a curious work by one Matthew Reynolds. “A contempory of George MacDonald,” he says of Reynolds, so that gives me a certain time frame. The book in question is a children’s book called THE WANDERING WOOD, and while I think it must certainly exist, I can’t find anything about it, nor can I find a used copy on Abe.com. Apparently it was illustrated by a British watercolor artist named Ellen Wentworth.
THE WANDERING WOOD is about a young girl who saves “a tribe of trees” from a bunch of woodcutters by helping them move to a different forest. How charming is that? It’s the kind of thing I’d ask about over on Sur La Lune were it not for an opportunity to go straight to the source of my curiosity, as it were. That’s rather fun.
In other news, I have some George MacDonald around here somewhere. I also recently picked up another long-lost fantasy classic, LUD-IN-THE-MIST. Choices, choices…
July 13th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
I came across your site while searching for “Wandering Wood” by Matthew Reynolds, and illustrated by Ellen Wentworth.
If you find out anything please let me know. I will do the same; and as I find your website absolutely intriguing, please email me anytime on any subject!
Best regards,
etaN~~
Nathan
December 8th, 2006 at 11:05 am
I’m currently reading “The Wild Wood” and am also curious about The “Wandering Wood” by Matthew Reynolds. My first step was abebooks.com and when I found nothing there, I googled and found you. The book’s mention caught my eye with its reference to George MacDonald. I read his “At the Back of the North Wind” and thought it was a lovely tale. The “Wandering Wood” sounds wonderful and I, too, would love to have a copy of this book. If it exists… If it doesn’t, it should.
March 11th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I was curious about this book to and sent an email inquiry to Mr. de Lint. He confirmed that it is made up and does not exist. Drats!