Tim and the Hidden People

Last updated
Tim and the Hidden People
Tim & Tobias front cover.png
Front cover of first book in series
Author Sheila K. McCullagh
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre
Set in United Kingdom
PublisherE.J. Arnold & Son (Later Arnold-Wheaton)
Publication date
  • 1974 (Series A)
  • 1976 (Series B)
  • 1977 (Series C)
  • 1980 (Series D)
  • 1983 (Novellas)
Media typePrint

Tim and the Hidden People by Sheila K. McCullagh is a 1970s and 80's reading scheme, also known as Flightpath to Reading, originally devised for young children and intended for children with a reading age of eight-and-a-half to nine years. [1] It consists of 32 books, each 32 pages long and illustrated by Pat Cook (1974-1979) and later Ray Mutimer (1980), written in a simple vocabulary. [1] [2] Four paperback "novella" books intended for older readers were also published in 1983 by Arnold-Wheaton. [3]

Contents

Sheila McCullagh also wrote many other books, including Puddle Lane, The Village with Three Corners, Dragon Pirate Stories, and Griffin Pirate Stories .

Plot

The Tim and the Hidden People books are about a boy called Tim who lives in a house in The Yard. The books begin with Tim finding a key which enables him to see the Hidden People, he befriends Tobias the black cat and has many adventures. [4] Tobias has a son, Sebastian, who also has special power as one of the "strange ones" - those who are half "ordinary folk" and half "Hidden people". [5]

Reception

Writing for the Times Educational Supplement in July 1980, Anne Barnes described the Tim and the Hidden People stories as "quite adventurous" saying "Tim encounters enough mysteries to keep the reader in suspense to the end". [1] Child Education magazine described the series as "excellent" in an August 1979 review. [6]

The books were cited as an inspiration by the author Victoria Biggs, who used the "Hidden People" as an analogy for those suffering from dyspraxia. [7] Author and director Tom Harper also cited the series as an early inspiration. [8]

Books

Series A

Series B

Series C

Series D

Reprints

Series A to D were reprinted in single novel form, with reduced quantity black and white images, but with expanded text.

Novellas

Tim & Tobias online

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Children's fantasy</span> Childrens literature with fantasy elements

Children's fantasy is children's literature with fantasy elements: fantasy intended for young readers. It may also mean fantasy read by children, regardless of the intended audience.

<i>The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe</i> Childrens fantasy novel by C. S. Lewis, 1950

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a portal fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It is the first published and best known of seven novels in The Chronicles of Narnia (1950–1956). Among all the author's books, it is also the most widely held in libraries. It was the first of The Chronicles of Narnia to be written and published, but is marked as volume two in recent editions that are sequenced according the stories' internal chronology. Like the other Chronicles, it was illustrated by Pauline Baynes, and her work has been retained in many later editions.

<i>Puddle Lane</i> English TV series or programme

Puddle Lane is a 1980s English pre-school children's television programme written by Rick Vanes with animated stories written by Sheila K. McCullagh, author of Tim and the Hidden People. A long series of early readers based on the stories was produced by Ladybird Books, also under the title Puddle Lane.

<i>Sabrina the Teenage Witch</i> Comic book series

Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared in Archie's Madhouse #22. Storylines of the character at elementary-school-age also appear under the title "Sabrina -- That Cute Little Witch" in almost all of the Little Archie comics.

J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter universe contains numerous settings for the events in her fantasy novels. These locations are categorised as a dwelling, school, shopping district, or government-affiliated locale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin Schwartz (children's author)</span> American author (1927–1992)

Alvin Schwartz was an American author and journalist who wrote more than fifty books dedicated to and dealing with topics such as folklore and word play, many of which were intended for young readers.

Chrestomanci, sometimes branded The Worlds of Chrestomanci, is a heptalogy of children's fantasy books written by British author Diana Wynne Jones, published from 1977 to 2006. In the context of the parallel universe setting of the books, Chrestomanci refers to both the British government office that is responsible for supervising the use of magic and Chrestomanci Castle in southern England, which is both residence and headquarters.

One, Two, Three and Away (ISBN 0003142183) was a series of books for children written by Sheila K. McCullagh, often known as the Roger Red Hat Books, or The Village with Three Corners. Illustrated mostly by Ferelith Eccles Williams and published by Collins in the 1960s–90s. Characters include Roger Red Hat, Billy Blue Hat, twins Johnny and Jennifer Yellow Hat, and Percy Green.

Spooksville is a series of 24 children's horror fiction books by American writer Christopher Pike. All 24 books were first published between 1995 and 1998. The series is set in a remote town in the USA and revolves around the lives of five of its young inhabitants. Although intended for a younger audience than his adult and young adult fiction, they contain some violence and may be considered unsuitable for younger children. A television series based on the book was commissioned and premiered on October 26, 2013 on the Hub Network.

These works were written or edited by the American fiction writer Andre Norton. Before 1960 she used the pen name Andrew North several times and, jointly with Grace Allen Hogarth, Allen Weston once.

<i>Fantaghirò</i> (TV series) Spanish TV series or program

Fantaghirò is a 1999 Spanish-Italian fantasy animated television series loosely based on the Italian live-action film series Fantaghirò. It was created by BRB Internacional with animation by Colorland Animation Production, written by Francesca Melandri, Giovanni Romoli and Lamberto Bava, produced by Mediaset, Telecinco and Grupo Planeta, with music by Mark Bradley and Terry Wilson. A 75-minute animated film Fantaghirò: Quest for the Kuorum edited together using footage from the series was released in 2000.

Sheila Kathleen McCullagh MBE was a British author of children's literature.

<i>The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole</i> Novel by Stephen King

The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole is a 2012 fantasy novel by American writer Stephen King. As part of the Dark Tower series, it is the eighth novel, but it is set chronologically between volumes four and five. First mentioned by King in 2009, after the controversial ending of the seventh novel in 2004, the book was officially announced on King's official website on March 10, 2011.

<i>Meg Duncan</i> Series of childrens novels

The Meg Duncan books are a series of six juvenile mystery books originally published by Western Publishing between 1967 and 1972 and reprinted in 1978. They were written by Holly Beth Walker and illustrated by Cliff Schule. The series was developed by editor Dorothy Haas, and first printed under Western Publishing's hardback-imprint formats. They were later reprinted as paperbacks.

Kirsty Murray is an Australian author. Murray writes children's fiction with a focus on Australian history. She is known for the Children of the Wind series of children's novels. She is a recipient of the Aurealis Award for best children's fiction.

Diana Wynne Jones was a British writer of fantasy novels for children and adults. She wrote a small amount of non-fiction.

Wildwitch is a children's/juvenile fantasy novel series published by Danish-born writer, Lene Kaaberbøl, from 2011 to 2014. The six-part series had its first four novels translated into English by Charlotte Barslund in 2016. A Danish feature film, Wild Witch (Vildheks), based on the series was released in 2018. The stories centre on Clara, a 12-year-old, who has a love of animals and nature. She struggles to become a wildwitch and encounters deadly enemies, Chimera and Bravita Bloodling.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Barnes, Anne (11 July 1980). "A Spider Named Sophocles". The Times Educational Supplement. p. 38. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  2. May, Hal, ed. (April 1984). Contemporary Authors. Gale. p. 347. ISBN   9780810319103 . Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  3. British National Bibliography. The British Library. 1985. p. 1521. ISBN   0712310304 . Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  4. Alderton, David (2010). Famous Felines: Cats' Lives in Fact and Fiction. Pen & Sword Books. ISBN   9781844688647 . Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  5. Sfetcu, Nicolae (2014). About Cats. Nicolae Sfetcu. p. 269. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  6. Bentley, Diana (August 1979). "Extension Readers". Child Education. p. 14. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  7. Biggs, Victoria (2014). Caged in Chaos: A Dyspraxic Guide to Breaking Free (Updated ed.). Jessica Kingsley. pp. 14–15. ISBN   9781849054744 . Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  8. Harper, Tom (8 June 2013). "BOOK CLUB". Daily Record. Retrieved 14 September 2023.