Toots and the Upside Down House

Toots #1

by Carol Hughes

Toots can't remember her mother, but her father has never been able to forget. Since her death, he's spent more and more time immersed in his stamp collection, and less and less time with Toots. It is on one particularly lonely afternoon when Toots is practicing headstands that she first sees a fairy walking across the living room ceiling. Before she knows what's happened, Toots finds herself reduced to the size of a mouse in an upside-down world where hardworking fairies protect the house against evil sprites and unctuous goblins. Toots must battle with good and evil, both outside and inside herself, before finding her way back down to earth and renewing her love for her widowed father. Carol Hughes makes a dazzling debut with this special book that combines fantasy and adventure with the real, everyday issues of love and loss.

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure

143 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Carol Hughes grew up in England, in a seaside town where her parents kept a small hotel. When she got older, she went to art school to study painting. Not long afterward, she moved to the United States and began writing. She now lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and two daughters.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts of my grandmother reading stories, from our great big blue book, came to mind, as I read this book. I loved grandma to read me books with brownies, and other creatures, who came to life at night.

Toots has run home to find her teddy bear, Fred. She finds comfort in holding and talking with Fred. Toot's dad doesn't pay attention to her, or listen to her, and she wonders if her dad loves her. He pays more attention to his stamp collection, than he does to her.

Toots is on the floor looking at the ceiling, when she spots a tiny door, and a little creature. The creature, Olive, pulls Toots up to the ceiling, and she becomes tiny, and the adventure begins. Through this adventure Toots and her father both learn they need to share, and show their love for each other.

This is a good story.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly inspiring story that took me to another dimension. Had it not been for Paige I wouldn't have expanded my outlook on things or understood where her roots came from. Toots and the Upside-down House was a great, short, captivating read that I will not soon forget

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most charming books I have read in a long time. Toots, a young girl left to her own devises discovers a world right inside her every own house with fairies who would like to take over the entire house, not just the attic.

[Mailis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Osaliselt vahvalt lapselik ning põnev, samas mõneti liigselt keerulise sõnakasutusega nooremate põnnide jaoks ehk tõlgitud. Võibolla, et väga nõrga närvikavaga lastele võib ta kohati õudusjutuna tunduda, aga midagi nüüd veriselt kohutavat ka ei juhtu.