Behind Sally's Books Mark 2

  Max and Anjelica Harris had music in their veins. Other people might cut themselves and ooze red, but Sibella was convinced that her parents would bleed the tonic sol-fa. It was a ghoulish notion, but that was Sibella all over. Half-past normal, she sometimes thought. Luckily, no one seemed to notice. The marvellous musicality had sprung from who-knew-where. Granny Alice Harris played the piano in a competent fashion. Grandpa Piet de Jong had briefly played with a band called Dutch Treat when the usual drummer was off on paternity leave. None of that explained Max and Anjelica. “It’s a gift,” Grandma Deb said with a shrug. When the couple moved in together, she portended, “Like calls to like.” It was a gift, but a little bit magic. Sibella grew up with two musical magical parents and five magical musical instruments. These instruments; two violins, a flute, a French horn and a cello, were old, polished and beautiful. They whispered and promised from their rack i...

  Spooky Stories! I have always been a scaredy cat. I’m frightened of things that don’t bother most people, including driving in traffic, going to the dentist and arguments. On the other hand, I can happily address a large crowd, I wear what I want and read what I want, and I drink out of the river. On the other other hand, I used to not be scared of heights and now I am. I used to be scared of the dark and now I’m not. I used to fear being alone and now I enjoy it. So there it is. My relationship with spooky stories has followed two paths. When I was a child, I was prone to sleeplessness and nightmares so my parents tried to shield me from scary stuff. We were allowed to read more or less what we wanted, but since Mum bought our books, I’m sure she kept a close eye on the content. Unfortunately, she overlooked two sources of creepy fear. We subscribed to a magazine called Look and Learn, which was a cheery compilation of educational pieces about other countries, ballet...