Kids into Books: Ruby Red

Author:Henrietta Branford

Illustrator: John Lupton

Publisher: HarperCollins, $12.95

Age Group: 8+ years

Deep down dark in the middle of the night, two yellow beams shone on the Gargoyle's face. He woke in a fright and struck twelve.

A van pulled up beside the meadow gate. Titus Troy's Amazing Toys it said on the side. An old man got out, went round to the back, and opened the doors.

Peeping out from a pile of broken toys was a little tin horse.

"King of the Toy Shop, you once was," said the old man, sadly. "Star Attraction. Always in the window."

The tin horse looked proud but said nothing.

"Toy Shop's shut now," the old man told him. "Business gone bust. Boss said to sell you lot for scrap."

The tin horse could not believe what he was hearing.

"But you deserve better than that. You want green grass under your hooves and blue sky above. That's why I brung you here."

The tin horse couldn't see where here was.

"So you can feel the wind blow. Watch the sun go down of an evening and the golden moon rise up."