Enchantment in the Garden; The Lion and the Unicorn

Both of these books describe the adventures of intensely lonely children whose longings cause statues in secluded gardens to come to life. In the first book, the only child of a wealthy hotel owner falls in love with a statute of a young sea god. Her love brings him to life, but his encounter with the depredations that the 20th century has made on his elemental home leads to an inevitable parting. The second book describes the tribulations of Lenny Levi, another only child, whose father is away fighting in the second world war. When his street is bombed, his mother sends him off as a refugee. He arrives in a country house with a group of jeering children and an unsympathetic housemaid, whose hostility is barely balanced by the friendship of a serving girl and a crippled war hero, encountered in the overgrown garden behind the house. But also in the garden is the statue of a unicorn, a life sized version of the creature on the little brass lion and unicorn emblem that Lenny's father has given him as a keepsake. When Lenny's fear and loneliness transform themselves into a phantom lion that pursues him through the garden, it is the unicorn which restores his courage.

The books share the theme of childhood vulnerability brought to emotional crisis in an encounter with mythology. That they manage to make such encounters engaging and believable is a tribute to the blend of straightforward text and dramatic but realistic illustration. Shirley Hughes' powerful, full page paintings, rich in both narrative sweep and period detail, make an intense visual impact, but they are accompanied by quiet, subtle marginal sketches, and by clear writing. Highly recommended for readers of all ages.