The Secrets of the Wild Wood
Tonke Dragt author Laura Watkinson translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Pushkin Children's Books
Publishing:3rd Jul '25
£9.99
This title is due to be published on 3rd July, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

'Unmissable' Telegraph 'Fans will be delighted... offers intrigue, action and escapism' Sunday Times, Children's Books of the Year One of the King's most trusted knights has vanished in the snow. Young Sir Tiuri and his best friend Piak must journey into the shadowy heart of the forest to find him. The Wild Wood is a place of mysteries, rumours and whispered tales. A place of lost cities, ancient curses, robbers, princesses and Men in Green. As the darkness surrounds him and reports grow of secret plots and ruthless enemies, Tiuri finds himself alone and fighting for survival - caught in a world where good and evil wear the same face, and the wrong move could cost him his life... Part of the new Pushkin Children's Classics series of thrilling, magical and inspiring stories from around the world, which young readers will return to time and again. Translated by Laura Watkinson Tonke Dragt was born in Jakarta in 1930 and spent most of her childhood in Indonesia. Her family moved to the Netherlands after the war and, after studying at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, Dragt became an art teacher. She published her first book in 1961, followed a year later by The Letter for the King, which won the Children's Book of the Year award and has been translated into sixteen languages. Dragt was awarded the State Prize for Youth Literature in 1976 and was knighted in 2001. She died in 2024. Laura Watkinson is a full-time translator from Dutch, Italian and German. She has translated many titles for Pushkin Children's Books, including Jan Terlouw's Winter in Wartime, Tonke Dragt's The Letter for the King and Annet Schaap's Lampie. She lives in Amsterdam.
"Young Sir Tiuri, recently knighted following the events in The Letter for the King, finds the adventure he seeks deep in the mysterious Wild Wood. The translation flows smoothly and may well appeal to young fans of knightly adventure tales . . . An old-fashioned Arthurian-esque adventure for those who enjoy that genre's satisfying storytelling pleasures."
—Kirkus Reviews
"[A] classic medieval adventure. . . Dragt and her translator, Watkinson, evoke the quiet, timeless pleasures of gallant knights on heroic quests in a time of wonder."
—Booklist
"Action-packed drama."
—Daily Mail
"Thrilling."
—Metro
"Fans will be delighted . . . The Secrets of the Wild Wood . . . takes Tiuri back into the perilous wood, forefronts some of the female characters and offers intrigue, action and escapism."
—Sunday Times, Children's Books of the Year
"Adventures of the classic kind await in The Secrets of the Wild Wood."
—Telegraph, Books of the Year
"Tiuri's adventures take a supernatural turn as he travels through the wild wood on the trail of a missing knight. It is a place of lost cities, robbers, unreliable princesses and mysterious men in green, all posing challenges to the intrepid hero. [This book] deserves readers of all ages."
—Sunday Express
"For those stay-in and curl-up days."
—Jewish Chronicle
ISBN: 9781782694939
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
512 pages