Tundra Books has published an unusual series of five books geared to both the educational and trade markets. Written at a Grade 2 level, these readers share the same format, characters, and theme – scary stories. Each book springs from an adult warning given to the three young main characters; other titles in the series are Don’t Open the Door!, Don’t Go Near the Water!, Don’t Go in There!, and Don’t Walk Alone at Night!

In Don’t Go into the Forest!, the boys are told not to go through the woods on their way to the store – but of course they’re tempted to disobey. While they’re debating their route, one boy tells a scary story about a child being captured by the “Little People” in the forest. Like all the stories in this series, this one ends with the protagonist learning his lesson and promising to do as he’s told in the future.

Following this first story, the other two boys briefly comment on the first boy’s tale. A second boy then launches into a story about “Pot Woman,” an evil character who sucks people into pots and eats them. The pattern repeats itself, but instead of an ending, the third story has an afterword in which readers are encouraged, through a series of questions, to create their own ending. Teachers will no doubt welcome this pedagogical device as a good motivator for narrative writing. They’ll also appreciate the fact that the series contains a balance of male and female protagonists, some of whom outwit the villain.

All the stories told by the boys are based on multicultural folktales cited by author Veronika Martenova Charles at the end of each book. But because the tales are rewritten in very short simple sentences in order to make the text understandable for young independent readers, the rich descriptive language and tone associated with folktales is unfortunately lost. As a result, the suspense is also lost.

The scary component is present, however, in the brightly coloured cover illustrations, which show the characters reacting to a large, frightening creature. Unfortunately, the cartoon-like illustrations that accompany the text are black and white.