The Mysterious Shin Shira

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Pages: 94

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About this book

A pair of yellow shoes appears in a writer's room, followed by stockings, a body and a head in a jewelled turban. The visitor introduces himself as Shin Shira, a partly fairy being whose sudden appearances and disappearances are governed by an old family spell. He carries a small book of magical remedies, but his powers can prove unreliable. His conversation with the writer mixes extraordinary claims with sharp comments about his host's intelligence.

G. E. Farrow's children's fantasy unfolds through ten episodes, with chapter headings featuring a dragon, a magic carpet and a diamond. In the Baghdad episode, Shin Shira asks his friend to help him after a valuable diamond is found in his possession. The writer's decision to travel to his aid adds loyalty to the book's comic magic. Readers interested in fairy tales with a conversational narrator will find everyday worries set beside impossible events.

About the author

G. E. Farrow

G. E. Farrow was a British children's writer best remembered for comic fantasies that treat nonsense as a doorway into elaborate imaginary societies. The Wallypug of Why begins the Wallypug sequence, introducing a peculiar ruler and a society built from playful reversals, word games, and encounters with eccentric figures.