Oskar and the Things is a children’s novel by Andrus Kivirähk, translated from Estonian by Adam Cullen and illustrated by Anne Pikkov.

‘Oskar was wrestling with a similar uneasy feeling right now – that his dad’s car would have barely made it off the drive before those kids from the village would come crawling out of the woodwork to carry him off to their fort, no matter how hard he struggled. After that, they’d drag him into the woods, and then somewhere else to go fishing, and then to who-knows-what other horrible places. And Grandma wouldn’t protect him at all – she’d just stand on the porch, holding a bucket and nodding in satisfaction: Ah yes, the countryside is the perfect place for children in summer!’