A CASTLE OF BONE

How in all the supernatural. . . ."" can one explain the curious properties of the cupboard which Hugh, a dreamy boy to begin with, insists on purchasing from a churlish old man. No sooner done than installed in his room, strange things happen -- his wallet which had once been pigskin becomes a live pig that disappears. . .dried raisins become grapes. . .and in the progressive regressions, his friend Penn, momentarily shut up in the cupboard, becomes a toddler and then a wizened infant. Meantime Hugh's dreams, as well as the querulous man to whom they turn for advice, keep redirecting him to the castle of bone -- a metaphor of self. Even if some of the things Mrs. Farmer is saying about change and loss and fear may elude some of her younger readers, the story holds its own every step of the road back and it's an agreeable, soft-toned fantasy asking and answering ""What isn't real in its own way?