A colleague is looking for this:
There’s kids book, published before 1980, about a kid who goes on a big journey in his backyard. Everything he encounters takes on human form and helps him on his journey. E.g. a bee and a bear. The bee becomes some kind of rotund warrior, and the bear is Norman looking and has a big sword and shield. It was maybe for preteens, probably 40 or 50 pages long.
Any suggestions?