Note: Highly Commended for Children's Book Council of Australia 1973 Book of the Year.

Reviewed briefly among other children's books: -- Jill Paton Walsh The Guardian 1972-11-08 p10 "Spell makers and breakers" review column by (Wrightson a spell-breaker in this one, unfortunately) -- Naomi Lewis The Observer 1972-11-26 p37 "Over the edge" (this one for under-10s; "a citypiece, and wholly successful")

Synopsis: "a kind of prelude to [Wrightson's] later fantasies: three urban children save a public Garden from a developer with the assistance of a variety of Wainscot spirits native to the enclosure and to the local Aboriginal Dreamtime." --Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997), online edition at SFE; emphasis represents links to other entries