I saw this go by on the library app, and thought "Oh, I like Clarke sometimes!" and a Christmas-related story from her seemed cool. It wasn't until I checked it out that I noticed that it was a short story, padded out with (very nice!) illustrations and authors notes at the back. (And not Hugo eligible, as it was written to be a BBC radio broadcast a couple years ago).

I quite liked it! It's very simple, but the mood is lovely and creepy, and I like how it handles the idea of talking animals. The sentient forest feels very Clarke (and indeed it's meant to be set in the same universe as Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, though doesn't need any knowledge of that).

(Not sure why this was a book, but Nenya says that Clarke has been having a lot of health problems, and focusing on longer works has been impossible. At current rate of page-count decrease, I think she'll be publishing postcard fiction next.)