This is aimed at younger readers but is in fact an enthralling story that will capture all ages. The tale begins with a family losing their 16-year-old twin sons to TB, followed by the father dying soon after. Left to look after his mother and baby sister is Charlie, who takes strength in playing the fiddle that was his father’s passion. As the family’s finances dry up they find themselves having to move to live with their paternal grandmother. There Charlie learns from his Gran about the faery folk and to beware of them. He doesn’t always take his Gran’s advice to begin with and unwittingly allows the Faery folk to swap his sister for a changeling. What follows is Charlie’s heroics as he takes on the Faery folk in a battle to win his sister back from their clutches. Windling’s faeries are wonderfully gothic, malevolent and nasty little creatures. Given the sorrowful beginning it’s probably best to share this book with your children – you won’t be sorry, as it is deeper than it first appears. ( )

The Changeling looks like a dorky kid's book and and the cover is awful but the book itself is actually quite good. It's a short children's novel about Charlie, a boy near the turn of the century, who has lost both his father and brothers to tuberculosis. He goes with his mother and little sister Polly to live with his Irish grandmother in the South Eastern United States. There his sister begins to act strangely, and, based on Charlie’s grandmother's stories of Irish faeries, the two begin to suspect that she has been stolen by the faeries and replaced by a changeling. Charlie must go into the forest and confront the faeries to save her. It's a lovely look at folk beliefs that have emigrated from Ireland, and it incorporates Irish music as well. Also, to top it all off, the faeries are delightfully scary! Windling delves into the darker realms of faery through strong writing and a compelling story. It's out of print, but highly recommended! ( )