Ten Candlelight Tales

I find this book difficult to assess. The stories in it are delightful to an adult. They are based on ten nursery rhymes and tell the stories behind them; (Why did the lion and the unicorn fight? Where did the dish and spoon run away to?) At first sight they seem perfect for the younger age group but, like much of Alison Uttley's work, the language is literary and often archaic and the ideas are difficult for the modern city child to understand.

However, these really repay some effort in the reading and so I suggest they're for children with a good deal of literary experience, or for an adult with the patience and sensitivity to help the children get to grips with unfamiliar language and ideas.