The Magic Knot is a making-tale comedy, starring Pine Cone and Pepper Pot the gnomes. They decide, since it is soon to be Tiptoes' birthday and she has no furniture in her little house, to make her one table and three chairs. A simple task for clever gnomes - so we would think! But, from the finding of the 'perfect' branch, to getting the table and chairs to the top of the Great Oak Tree where Tiptoes' acorn house swings back and forth, things go awry. On the way they get the help of a host of friends: Ompliant the Elephant, Jeremy Mouse, the Carpenter Ants, Chiron the Pony and Spin-a-lot the Spider (to name just a few). Finally, when her surprise birthday party finally rolls around, Tiptoes tells the enchanting tale of how she came to live in the Great Oak Tree as a daughter of Father Sun and Mother Wind. The Magic Knot is lavishly illustrated by the artist-author. It is full of innocent, sanguine humor, and is suitable for reading to young children or for young children to read. An additional, brief, story, The Tale of None, is found at the end of the book. It is about a ladybug who had no spots - none at all! - until she completes her spot-finding journey to India, Africa, and America. Reg Down has taught and told stories to children in Waldorf schools over the past twenty-two years. He has performed eurythmy, developed colored shadow puppetry shows, painted and sculpted with and for children.
