Skylar is a very modern boy who when not practising his violin likes to watch television, play video games and work on the computer. Yet he is intrigued by the possibility of the little beings' existance, and leaves a saucer of cream in the hopes of catching sight of them. Meanwhile, Sky doesn't know that his fervent wish to see a Brownie has opened a door to another world, where the elementals....fairies, elves, and wizards...are worried about the insidious influence of the nasty toys called Meeneemons on humans.

Under orders of Queen Celestine, the eccentric wizard Math Gwydion and Marigold, a tiny dynamo of a fairy, are charged to find the elusive brownies and bring them to Sky. Once Marigold leads the merrily scampering creatures to the human boy an epic struggle begins to rid the Earth of the malevolent and not-very-clever Meeneemons.

Author Martha Heller is a fine writer who does a wonderful job of weaving the language and whimsey of a timeless fairytale into a story with a modern enough sensibility to be relished by contemporary young readers. Any parent who has contended with children obsessed with soulless plastic television tie-in toys will cheer for the forces of good in this delightfully transporting fantasy that celebrates myth, childhood, and creativity.