A delightful collection of seven stories with traditional folktale themes, set for the most part in wild and lonely places of the New Zealand landscape, where the earth spirits emerge to weave their magic over the lives of those who dwell there. Such a spirit is Silver, the child who comes to a lonely couple with her flax basket of magic leaves; the Dwarf who terrifies a farmer with his swarm of bees and recalls him to his true love; the Tramp who plays a trick on a greedy man; Nereda, who comes down from the cabbage tree; and Rosie Moonshine, who mysteriously appears from nowhere ... And interspersed with these evocative stories are two homely little tales about Seven Somethings and a beetle who wanted to see the world. "A masterly storyteller" Betty Gilderdale, The New Zealand Herald