The underduckling : Hans Christian Andersen -- Little women and big girls : Louisa May Alcott -- The oddness of Oz -- Is there anybody there? : Walter de la Mare's solitary child -- John Masefield's boxes of delight -- Moomintroll and his friends -- Dr. Seuss comes back -- Haroun and the sea of stories -- The perils of Harry Potter -- What fairy tales tell us -- Boys and girls come out to play : children's games -- Poetry by and for children -- Louder than words : children's book illustrations -- Enchanted forest and secret gardens : nature in children's literature.