SOLVED. 1970's YA Fantasy: Boy meets little people (like Lilliputians) in backyard forest; adventure ensues. [s]

[Bobby]

I read this book in the 70's as a library hardcover. My recollection is that it's set contemporarily about a boy named Richard, Rick, or something like that, who becomes aware that a kingdom of little people exists in the backyard forest/bog of his house (maybe it's a summer house?). Magically he gets transformed into one, perhaps through a jewel or amulet, but I can't recall those details. There's a wizard of the little people whose name we also discover is Richard, and some conflict or threat that I'm vague on the details of now. There's a point in the book where the King boards the Royal Yacht, which the boy discovers is a model yacht that he had built earlier and thought lost. I seem to recall that everyone thought the yacht was a barge because there was no sail, but the boy shows them where the sail is stowed and there's a scene on the yacht where the wizard has to produce a shrunken key to unlock this storage bin. The ending is that the conflict is resolved, the boy returns to his natural state with the possibility of more adventures.

Thanks in advance. :)

[SBC]

Have you had the chance to look through this list of 'Novels featuring miniature people'?

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

[Bobby]

SBC wrote: "Have you had the chance to look through this list of 'Novels featuring miniature people'?

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2..."

Yes, thank you. I should have mentioned that. The book is not on that list.

[SBC]

I've just added a bunch of books to the list.

Is it The First Summer Year by Ian Kellam?

Because the special jeweled pendant that Richard finds has the power to make him small, he discovers a village of tiny people where a month of his time equals an entire year.

[Bobby]

Yes, SOLVED!

This is the book. There is a Kirkus review that describes it in more detail, and that's definitely it!

I don't remember that cover at all, though.

Thanks!!

[SBC]

Great! Glad I could help :)