Marianne is a bedridden invalid and when she draws a house with a pencil found in her grandmother's sewing basket she finds herself in the drawing whenever she sleeps. In this dream world she meets a lonely boy, also an invalid, and together they become very frightened as the dreams become more sinister. This was a very atmospheric story, both dark and gloomy. There are some quite frightening scenes that I imagine would have scared me as a child. I really enjoyed the plot and found it a very unique premise but at only 204 pages it wasn't developed enough. I'd recommend this if you enjoy British children's books from this era such as Phillipa Pearce or Lucy M. Boston. ( )

Such a great childrens book! This originally belonged to one of my aunts, and I've read it many times. It was originally published in 1958, so it is charmingly dated in some ways, particularly the language used.
The central idea of a convalescent child dreaming of a completely seperate world that she can alter through drawings is equally captivating for a child or an adult. I particularly like the realistic charactarisation of the children, who are both nice kids but do sometimes behave badly.

There is a terrible film version, which tries to turn it into an adult horror movie. I was very disppointed, and would recommend sticking to the book. ( )

Perhaps my favourite classic children's novel, where a girl's drawings come to life in her dreams. Slightly scary in parts so beware. An excellent film adaptation was made too called "Dreamhouse". ( )