Dahl Quarray has created another collection of writing, this time short stories, each of which contains some element of life's magic, be it the magic of growing up or a powder compact made with a shard from the magic mirror of Snow White's evil stepmother.
The author explains the difference he draws between "stories" and "tales": "suffice it to define 'stories' as fiction based on reality and 'tales' as fiction based on fantasy." Thus, while "The Slap Heard 'Round the Block," "What Do You Make?," "A Well-Executed Hanging," and "Jake" are stories that could have happened to any of us, the rest are tales that employ devices like the magical shard in "Catherine's Compact," the hope and inspiration afforded humans by "The Daisy Patch," the power of poems to heal as penned in "The Lost Princess of Ansoneer" not unlike the power to bring peace and harmony among peoples by "The Sacred Pipe" and how a wish memory can become real as Tommy Jordan's did in "The Magic Drumstick."
The stories and tales in this book will delight, intrigue, inspire, cause wonderment and reflection, each ending with as much a sense of completion as a feeling that a new chapter is about to begin. While some are particularly suited to older children, all can be employed by adults of any age, because magic is ageless and timeless and finds its way into our lives whether or not we seek it.
