'Me and Nobbles'

Bobby Allonby has a crowded imagination in a household that values silence. His grandmother keeps a strict routine, his nursery sits at the top of the house, and the adults have little patience for his questions. His closest confidant is Nobbles, a walking stick with a smiling ivory head, given to him by his nurse's sailor brother. From the window seat, Bobby watches gardens, distant hills and clouds that become whole stories in his mind.

Amy Le Feuvre's children's novel brings that private world into contact with family life and Christian teaching. In a later scene, Bobby and True puzzle over the gates of heaven, while Mrs. Allonby explains how belief should shape everyday conduct. The appeal lies in Bobby's earnest questions and the contrast between adult rules and a child's literal understanding. Readers interested in older religious fiction for children will find family conversations, imaginative companionship and lessons about kindness and temper.