Editing Tim and the Hidden People

{{Short description|Children's' book series}}
{{Infobox book
| name              = ''Tim and the Hidden People''
| image             = Tim_&_Tobias_front_cover.png
| caption           = Front cover of first book in series
| author            = [[Sheila K. McCullagh]]
| country           = United Kingdom
| language          = English
| genre             = {{Plainlist|class=nowrap|<!--keep list format from wrap-fragmenting into a total mess-->
* [[Fantasy]]
* [[Adventure novel|Adventure]]}}
| set_in            = [[United Kingdom]]
| publisher         = E.J. Arnold & Son (Later Arnold-Wheaton)
| pub_date          = {{Plainlist|class=nowrap|<!--keep list format from wrap-fragmenting into a total mess-->
* 1974 (''Series A'')
* 1976 (''Series B'')
* 1977 (''Series C'')
* 1980 (''Series D'')
* 1983 (''Novellas'')}}
| media_type        = Print 
| oclc              = 
| preceded_by       = 
| followed_by       = 
}}
'''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">{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Anne |title=A Spider Named Sophocles |url=https://archive.org/details/TESGlobal1980UKEnglish/Jul%2011%201980%2C%20The%20Times%20Educational%20Supplement%2C%20%233343%2C%20UK%20%28en%29/page/n19/mode/2up?q=hidden |access-date=16 January 2023 |work=The Times Educational Supplement |date=11 July 1980 |page=38}}</ref><ref name="May 1984">{{cite book |editor1-last=May |editor1-first=Hal |title=Contemporary Authors |date=April 1984 |publisher=Gale |page=347 |isbn=9780810319103 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OmHoha6UmKUC&q=%22Flightpath+to+reading%22 |access-date=18 January 2023}}</ref> Four paperback "novella" books intended for older readers were also published in 1983 by Arnold-Wheaton.<ref name="British National Bibliography 1985">{{cite book |title=British National Bibliography |date=1985 |publisher=The British Library |isbn=0712310304 |page=1521 |url=https://archive.org/details/britishnationalb0001unse/page/1520/mode/2up?q=%22Burglars+in+the+Yard%22+McCullagh |access-date=18 January 2023}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Alderton 2013">{{cite book |last1=Alderton |first1=David |title=Famous Felines: Cats' Lives in Fact and Fiction |date=2010 |publisher=Pen & Sword Books |isbn=9781844688647 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i8SIDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22tim+and+the+hidden+people%22&pg=PT231 |access-date=12 January 2023}}</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">{{cite book |last1=Sfetcu |first1=Nicolae |title=About Cats |date=2014 |page=269 |publisher=Nicolae Sfetcu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtVvAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22tim+and+the+hidden+people%22&pg=PA269 |access-date=12 January 2023}}</ref><ref name="THE RETFORD GAINSBOROUGH & WORKSOP TIMES 1981">{{cite news |title=Andrew's a move ahead |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003677/19810102/015/0015 |access-date=16 September 2023 |work=THE RETFORD GAINSBOROUGH & WORKSOP TIMES |date=2 January 1981 |page=15}}</ref>

==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".<ref name="Barnes 1980" /> ''Child Education'' magazine described the series as "excellent" in an August 1979 review.<ref name="Bentley 1979">{{cite news |last1=Bentley |first1=Diana |title=Extension Readers |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_child-education-plus_1979-08_56_8/page/14/mode/2up?q=McCullagh+Flightpath |access-date=16 January 2023 |work=Child Education |date=August 1979 |page=14}}</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">{{cite book |last1=Biggs |first1=Victoria |title=Caged in Chaos: A Dyspraxic Guide to Breaking Free |date=2014 |publisher=Jessica Kingsley |isbn=9781849054744 |pages=14–15 |edition=Updated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zCaPAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22tim+and+the+hidden+people%22&pg=PP2 |access-date=12 January 2023}}</ref> Author and director [[Tom Harper (director)|Tom Harper]] also cited the series as an early inspiration.<ref name="Daily Record 2013">{{cite news |last1=Harper |first1=Tom |title=BOOK CLUB |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A332959527/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=ad174ab3 |access-date=14 September 2023 |work=Daily Record |date=8 June 2013}}</ref>

==Books==
===Series A===
*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 B===
*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 C===
*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 D===
*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

===Reprints===
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)

===Novellas===
*Tim and the People of the Moonlight
*The Wild Witches and the Talisman
*Burglars in The Yard
*Magic in the North

==External links==
[https://www.123andaway.com/tim-and-tobias Tim & Tobias online]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Portal |Children's literature}}

[[Category:Children's fiction books]]
[[Category:Series of children's books]]