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Joan Aiken has emerged as one of the foremost children's writers of recent years. Perhaps overlooked though are her enchanting short stories, some of the best of which are collected in this wonderful book. The brilliantly matter-of-fact way with which magic coexists with a world very like our own holds the key to Aiken's appeal: a typical sentence being "What shall we do about the unicorn? Cousin Elspeth doesn't approve of keeping pets." Similarly: "You have a National Magic Insurance Card, haven't you? Good heavens - why don't you go to the Public Magician?" This is not epic, sweeping fantasy but instead a more charming, low-key inclusion of a little enchantment in the world. Aiken combines fairy-tale plot devices with unique elements, acute description, a host of young heros and heroines with names like Matilda, Esmerelda, Emmeline, Harriet and George, plenty of love and loss and a healthy dash of humour. In this world a witch bequeaths cursed robots on an unsuspecting family, a girl makes a harp of fishbones, a man has lost his love in an enchanted garden, a doctor discovers his beloved princess in the cinema, a village rejoices in a midnight rose, a griffin hatches from an egg, and a girl takes solace in her cat and the fantasy of the ancient King Cunnobel and his Druids. Charming and simple, these tales are. Sentimental, they are not. The beautifully crafted stories, full of contemporary appeal are sometimes dark, often mysterious, but always ultimately uplifting. An antidote to the Potter-monopoly: a collection that will entertain and inspire children from 8 and up.
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