Includes bibliographical references and index.

Once upon a time: the prehistory of children's writing -- ' Come, boy, learn to be wise': moralists and fabulists -- Down the rabbit-hole: the dawning of the golden age -- Man-cubs and naughty bunnies: late Victorian -- Never such innocence again: the Edwardians -- An enchanted place: between the wars -- Lashings and lashings: post-war writers -- A crack in the teacup: sixties and seventies fantasy and science fiction -- Harsh realities: the darker side of children (and rabbits) -- Representing: how children's stories became diverse -- Back to the future: old potions in new bottles -- A thousand words: picture books.

"Do you remember the first time you fell in love with a book? Maybe you tumbled down a rabbit hole, flew out of your bedroom window, or found the key to a secret garden. And in the silence of that moment, your whole life changed forever. The stories we read as children are indelible in our memories; reaching far beyond our childhoods, they are a window into our deepest hopes, joys and anxieties. They reveal our past -- collective and individual, remembered and imagined -- and invite us to dream up different futures. In a pioneering history of the children's literary canon, The Haunted Wood reveals the magic of childhood reading, from the ancient tales of Aesop, through the Victorian and Edwardian golden age to new classics. Excavating the complex lives of our most beloved writers, Sam Leith offers a humane portrait of a genre and celebrates the power of books to inspire and console entire generations." --Publisher's description