Eleanor Farjeon, now almost forgotten, had a lyrical, dreamlike quality to her writing which modern writers could do worse than to emulate. Here she retells 'Rumpelstiltskin' in her own inimitable manner, and E H Shepard draws the pictures. ( )

There is an old Norfolk story of a little black imp with a name and a twirling tail, who spun twelve skeins of flax in half an hour to save the pretty head of the Queen of Norfolk. Eleanor Farjeon has made the old tale the heart of her new story for children, and round it has imagined a wonderful world-full of memorable people.

Probably the most important person is twelve-year-old Poll - brown as a nut, bright as a button, sharp as a needle, inquisitive as a kitten Poll. But very important too are Nollekins, King Noll of Norfolk, the king with a double nature, and his slow, sweet, Queen Doll, who loves apple dumplings (a round dozen, if possible); and Mother Codling and her four sons, good strong lads with enormous appetites, who say little and think less; and quiet, gentle Charlee Loon who lives on the beach and pipes tunes for the puffins to dance to; and the odd creatures of the Witching Wood, led by old Rackny and the Little Black Imp himself. And, among many others, the lovely and mysterious Silver Curlew.