It was such a delight to re-read this past favourite for this review and find it still as spellbinding and full of enchantment as I remember.

Tolly, the young hero, is such a quiet, introspective boy, and his holiday with his great-grandmother at the old farm Green Knowe promises to be slow-paced and solitary. But the house – with its ancient furnishings, half-tame birds and old topiary gardens – is full of mystery, and Tolly is used to being on his own and listening to the house around him.

In this place, where the line between past and present is very thin, his great-grandmother seems unsurprised that he mysteriously meets other children who have also loved the manor. Like them, Tolly fears the overgrown Green Noah, lurking for generations in a corner of the garden. A world not to be missed for imaginative readers aged 10 and up, or as a shared family read-aloud.

Kathy Kozlowski