Little Fur first appeared in 2005, in a brown jacket which rather suited her elf troll nature. In this new edition, she has changed her cover to mauve with a different illustration but the story remains the same – and the underlying message unfortunately has lost none of its relevance.

Little Fur is half-elf, half-troll. She is also a healer, able to use herbs, poultices and tisanes to heal wounded animals. She has earth magic flowing through her and must stay connected to the ground. This proves difficult when she sets out on a quest to find out how to stop the tree-burners from wreaking havoc on the forests and woods and prevent the destruction of the Old Ones, seven ancient trees which live with her in the wilderness.

One of the delights of this book is the imagery of human civilisation tht is unfamiliar to Little Fur. There are road beasts, beaked houses and serpents of metal, all readily identifiable to the reader. It does make the vocabulary unusual, though, as does the dialogue of her companion Crow. This eco-fantasy is as enjoyable as it was the first time and hopefully a new generation of young readers will discover it.

Reviewed by Lynne Babbage
Age Guide 8+