Joan Aiken tells the story of lame Window and her sailor brother, Handle, who live in a small house in a wooded hollow. Each autumn, when the leaves fall from the trees, the little house is buried right up to its bedroom windows, so each year Handle must sweep the leaves away. But one day, Handle breaks the news that he must go away on an extra long trip. Window is sad, and desperately worried that she cannot survive without him. Before he leaves for the harbour, however, Handle gives Window a little wooden dragon and promises his sister that the dragon will look after her. And so the little dragon sits on a corner shelf, growing dusty, and waits for the time when he can come to Window's aid...

 

 

There are 32 pages in this book.

This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+).

This book was published in 2004 by Penguin Random House Children's UK .

Joan Aiken is one of the best loved authors of the twentieth century, and has written over a hundred books for young readers and adults, including "A Necklace of Raindrops," "The Winter Sleepwalker and Other Stories," and "The Youngest Miss Ward. " Ita Daly is an acclaimed Irish novelist. Her short stories have appeared in Irish, British and US magazines and anthologies, and she has won an Irish Times short story competition as well as two Hennessy Literary Awards. Bee Willey is a well-known artist, who has illustrated many best-selling treasuries and books of fairy tales.