The Enchanted Hour
by Meghan Cox Gurdon
Piatkus, 304pp, £13.99/$26.99
My earliest memory is of my mother laying a rug over our kitchen table and inviting my brother and me to crawl into the makeshift cave. Once we were settled, wide-eyed and excited, she would read to us about the Little Mermaid, or the Ugly Duckling, or the Little Match Girl. For us, it was Hans Christian Andersen; for you, it might have been Beatrix Potter, Enid Blyton or Allan and Janet Ahlberg. The effect will have been the same: a shared moment when children can achieve grown-up feats, exotic lands are around the corner and the elderly and frail are no longer limited by age or health.
