The child that books built

'Anyone who reads or ever read children's books - read this.

It's a joy.' Irish Times 'Exhilarating.' New York Times Book Review 'Sublime.' Peter Ackroyd, The Times ** An Evening Standard, Daily Telegraph, Independent, Guardian and Irish Times Book of the Year. ** What would you find if you went back and re-read your favourite books from childhood?In The Child That Books Built Francis Spufford revisits all those childhood obsessions: fairy tales; Where the Wild Things Are; The Lord of the Rings; The Chronicles of Narnia; Little House on the Prairie; The Wind in the Willows; The Earthsea Trilogy and more.

In these treasured tales Francis Spufford discovers both delight and sadness - the thrill as worlds of imagination opened up before him mixed with the memories of a boy who retreated into books when faced with a family tragedy.