A girl sits in a dusty room, crammed to the rafters with books.

Sunlight dances on the covers, between which are stories of magical worlds and faraway places, lands of princesses, kings, giants, and real children too.

Eleanor Farjeon was that girl, who was so enchanted by her little bookroom that she recreated it by writing this wonderful collection of short stories.

This charming book was the winner of the prestigious Carnegie Medal and is beautifully illustrated throughout by Edward Ardizzone, whose exquisite pictures immediately bring to mind the magical atmosphere of the stories