abstract:Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book 1 is a 2011 children's fantasy novel by The Decemberists' singer-songwriter Colin Meloy, illustrated by his wife Carson Ellis. The 541 page novel, inspired by classic fantasy novels and folk tales, is the story of two seventh-graders who are drawn into a hidden, magical forest, while trying to rescue a baby kidnapped by crows.
The 352 hectares (870 acres) of woodland is said to be home to not only protected species such as the dormouse, but 75 species of birds, 23 species of native butterflies, the wild daffodil, wood anemone and enchanters' nightshade.