Tim and the Hidden People
Template:Short description Template:Infobox book 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.<ref name="Barnes 1980" /> 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.<ref name="Barnes 1980">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="May 1984">Template:Cite book</ref> Four paperback "novella" books intended for older readers were also published in 1983 by Arnold-Wheaton.<ref name="British National Bibliography 1985">Template:Cite book</ref>
Sheila McCullagh also wrote many other books, including Puddle Lane, The Village with Three Corners, Dragon Pirate Stories, and Griffin Pirate Stories.
PlotEdit
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.<ref name="Alderton 2013">Template:Cite book</ref> 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".<ref name="Sfetcu 269">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="THE RETFORD GAINSBOROUGH & WORKSOP TIMES 1981">Template:Cite news</ref>
ReceptionEdit
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".<ref name="Barnes 1980" /> Child Education magazine described the series as "excellent" in an August 1979 review.<ref name="Bentley 1979">Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref name="Biggs 2014">Template:Cite book</ref> Author and director Tom Harper also cited the series as an early inspiration.<ref name="Daily Record 2013">Template:Cite news</ref>
BooksEdit
Series AEdit
- A1. Tim and Tobias
- A2. All the Fun of the Fair
- A3. Tim Meets Captain Jory
- A4. Tim and the Smugglers
- A5. Tim and the Witches
- A6. The Highwayman
- A7. Magic in The Yard
- A8. The Key
Series BEdit
- B1. The Return of the Key
- B2. Captain Jory Lends a Hand
- B3. The Stump People
- B4. Watchers in The Yard
- B5. Red for Danger
- B6. At the House of the Safe Witch
- B7. Tim in Hiding
- B8. On the night of the Full Moon
Series CEdit
- C1. The Pool by the Whispering Trees
- C2. Tim in Trouble
- C3. On the Road to the North
- C4. Riding into Danger
- C5. Mandrake's Castle
- C6. Escape by Night
- C7. Three Fires on the Dark Tower
- C8. Tim Rides on the Ghost Bus
Series DEdit
- D1. News from the North
- D2. The Cry in the Dark
- D3. The Shield Stone
- D4. The Storm over the Sea
- D5. The Cave of the Wind Witches
- D6. In Diaman's Cave
- D7. Danger on the Moor
- D8. At the Hill of the Stone Prisons
ReprintsEdit
Series A to D were reprinted in single novel form, with reduced quantity black and white images, but with expanded text.
- Tim and Tobias: Magic in the Wind (Series A)
- On the Night of the Full Moon (Series B)
- Three Fires on the Dark Tower (Series C)
- Wind Witches and Stone Men (Series D)
NovellasEdit
- Tim and the People of the Moonlight
- The Wild Witches and the Talisman
- Burglars in The Yard
- Magic in the North