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This book of short stories takes you on a series of captivating and otherworldly adventures, all of which are enhanced by the magical Jan Pienkowski silhouette illustrations (this was the first book Pienkowski illustrated). Most of the stories focus around magical journeys or wishes come true – both enduringly popular subjects for children’s fairy tales. As such, whilst published in 1968, these stories are timeless, and will be enjoyed by children today as much as I enjoyed them as a child.
Each of the eight stories carries a positive moral message, but manages to avoid sanctimony through its subtle delivery. This would be a great text to include as the basis for a unit on fantasy fiction writing, as it really stirs up the imagination.
The simple but poetic language and sentence structure would make this book a joy to read aloud at story time in KS1/early KS2 classrooms. It would also be an engaging independent read for KS2, or possibly confident Year 2 readers. I asked a Year 2 reader what they thought of this book: “It’s exciting and strange, with magical pictures.” Highly recommended.
