Watch Out for the Giant-Killers!

Colin McNaughton takes the Green Man of folk legend as his inspiration for this giant tale wherein the spirit of the forest in the shape of a leaf-covered giant encounters a small Indian boy deep in the Amazon forest. Their conversation together is highly entertaining and full of jokes and wordplay, but behind the banter - giant's in bold print, boy's in standard - and the lush cartoon-style illustrations is a more serious message about human nature and its impact on the planet. Readers will need to bring some knowledge of fairy tales as well as geography and history to this, and be able to tackle a longish text, if they are to reap maximum enjoyment.