The Enchanted Whistle

Hob, orphaned, adopted by a witch and forced to work for his keep, yearns for happiness. In dreams he hears the music of the ferlie world and makes a pipe to play the same betwitching tunes. They lead him to the threshold of the ferlie world where he discovers that true happiness is of his own making and in the real world. Mollie Hunter is expert in the folk-lore tradition: the telling is quiet and gentle but the characters range from the timid heroine through the grabbing, plotting witch to the aggressive and avaricious farmer. Read alone this is a story for the more capable middle school reader and the fan of genuine fantasy and magic. But the style lends itself to reading aloud if you can manage the occasional border country colloquialism.