These stories are a little spooky but lovely. My 8 year old who likes happy stories refused to keep listening after the first one or two. ( )

Bewitching. I read it once, then had to again right away before returning to the library. If I were a child I'd save up to buy it then read it every season for years.

Beautiful, exciting, meaningful, fun.... Reads like a bit of fluff for 9 year-olds, rereads like classic literature. Even the stories that don't have any actual magic are magical, even the ones that are serious have bits of wordplay, even the ones that are funny have beautiful evocative language.

Perfect for a family to share, reading aloud a story each evening. Deeply satisfying for fans of [a:Hans Christian Andersen|6378|Hans Christian Andersen|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1183230200p2/6378.jpg], the Brothers Grimm, [a:Charles Perrault|35760|Charles Perrault|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1267516341p2/35760.jpg], or [a:Natalie Babbitt|1954|Natalie Babbitt|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1226361832p2/1954.jpg]. By the author of another of my favorites from my childhood, [b:The Wolves of Willoughby Chase|1311537|The Wolves of Willoughby Chase|Joan Aiken|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1341589642s/1311537.jpg|856203].

To give you a bit of sample, though I'm not sure if something's lost sans context:

An adult son reports Mother takes her life in her hands twenty times a day." The old lady reacts with "That's the way life ought to be taken. If you have your life in your hands, then you can steer it, can't you?"

And a teacher, Mr. Dibben, has a tape recorder he uses "for teaching the children in school and trying to make them say their a's long and droopy, like an old bellwether, instead of short and crisp like a snapped stick."" ( )