Have you ever thought of a road as the beginning of an adventure? When you step out of your door, do you feel a prickle of anticipation? Many authors have explored the theme of travel in their books. The type of journey undertaken can be as short as from downstairs to upstairs, or as long a trip as covering miles of barren land. Time travel too is not ruled out. If you like the idea of travelling to new places and exploring them, you will enjoy the variety of books in children's literature in which characters do this.

The composer of the lines quoted above, Bilbo Baggins (a respectable hobbit), never thought of what lay before him when he ran down the path from his house to meet 13 impatient dwarves. Bilbo travelled down strange, hard roads and had unusual adventures. (You can read about it in TheHobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien). Slowly as the trip progressed, Bilbo realised that he has the resources to meet unexpected situations and when he returned home, he was never the same again. The treasure he brought back however, brought new adventures for Bilbo's nephew Frodo. You can read about his adventures in Tolkien's famous trilogy The Lord of the Rings.

One of the earliest journeys taken in children's literature is in The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley. Tom, the chimneysweep, has amazing adventures as he is changed into a water baby and travels through both river and sea. The end of his journey lies in helping Grimes, his old cruel master, reform. It is a delightful story packed with lively characters - the fierce otter, the friendly lobster, the amiable trout, the courtly lobster and, of course, the two fairies, Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid and Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby. Kingsley also gives a delightful account of evolution - in reverse - don't miss it on any account!

Travels often feature in George MacDonald's books as well. In At the Back of the North Wind, Diamond, a young boy, rides with the North Wind while she is at work, and has different adventures with her. In The Princess and the Goblin, the Princess Irene often takes strange (and sometimes dangerous) journeys within the house and through the nearby mines. She finds out that if she keeps her finger on the mysterious thread provided by her great- great grandmother she can travel over even the most difficult path with safety. Curdie, Irene's friend, finds even more strange adventures as he makes his way to the distant Palace to help Irene and the King in the sequel The Princess and Curdie.

In The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis dwells on travel and how it affects his characters. There are journeys between worlds and within worlds. In The Silver Chair, for instance, Jill and Eustace explore every means of travel; they speed through the air, trek over moors and mountains and then go deep under the earth to a surprising adventure. Sometimes the journey brings self-understanding. Shasta, to escape slavery, undertakes a dangerous flight across the desert with Bree, the talking horse, in The Horse and His Boy. Through his responses to the various circumstances they find themselves in, Shasta discovers things about himself. It is only at the end of this long and difficult journey that Shasta learns of his true identity. Suddenly the past events of his life, which he had always viewed as unfortunate, take on a new significance. In The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, when Edmund undertakes his difficult trip with the White Witch he finds out many unpleasant facts not only about the Witch but also about himself. The self-realisation of this journey he takes within himself, changes him.

People and hobbits are not the only ones to have strange trips, even pets can. Three animals, two dogs and a cat, undertake a jaunt of 250 miles over the toughest terrain in Canada in The Incredible Journey written by Sheila Burnford. During this journey, the loyalty and friendship the animals show to each other and the hardships they go through make a moving and poignant story. At the end of the book, you will find out what impels them to travel so far.

Madeline L'Engle is an author who experiments not only with time travel but journeys in other dimensions too. In the award-winning book, A Wrinkle in Time Meg Murry's father is found missing after an experiment goes awry. Meg, along with three mysterious helpers, travels across time and space to rescue her father. Once she does free her father she expects him to set things right. It is only towards the end of the journey when the situation is at its most desperate that she realises that some of the answers are within her. A Wind in the Door has even more exciting journeys and unusual helpers. You might even find yourself on a mysterious trip inside a mitochondrion! In A Swiftly Tilting Planet, it is Meg's younger brother Charles Wallace who goes back and forth in time. Travelling on the wind with a Unicorn, Charles grapples with a "might have been" in order to avert a world tragedy. Sandy and Dennys, the twins who consider themselves the practical ones of the Murry family, find themselves in a very impractical situation when they stumble into one of their father's experiments and have no idea "where" or "when" they are. You can read about their adventures in Many Waters. Meg's daughter finds herself in an even stranger venture when the woods around her grandparents' home seem to shift to another age in An Acceptable Time.

These of course are just a sampling of the books that explore the idea of travel. You can see that often the authors who write about journeys explore the idea of the physical aspects of the journey leading to self-discovery and new understanding. So, the next time you stand poised on your doorstep ready for a walk, think of all the exciting places the road can lead you to!