I want to make it clear that I enjoyed this book, and I wish all kids today had the interest in and opportunity to experience the woods the way the four siblings in this book did.

That said... oh, my, have things changed since 1940.

Let's talk about the Wild Man. First of all, the cover art of the edition I've chosen to append this review to is hilarious. So, this wild man wears a suit, and keeps his beard nicely trimmed. Perhaps his woodland friends gnaw it off and use the hair to line their nests. At least he's not wearing a bowler and carrying a black umbrella hooked over one arm. He looks a bit like the original Jonny Quest's dad.

“Auntie, may I go to the woods and spend the night with my friend the Wild Man in his tree house?”

“Of course, dear. Take him a piece of cake.”

There's a conversation that doesn't happen any more.

The Wild Man, of course, is the most civilized person in the book, and I'm sure that was the entire point. But we don't even get a hint of back story to reassure us that the story isn't going to take a sudden turn into Stephen King territory. Not that Enid would ever go there, but it's nearly impossible for a 21st century first-time reader not to conjure those kinds of visions.

I think Tammylan's name should be in the title of the book. We barely hear about the farm, other than as the place the kids go back to after visiting Tammylan in the woods, and the place where they talk about wanting to go back and visit him again. Let's promote him from Wild Man, and call it Tammylan the Wise and the Children of Cherry Tree Farm.