In a small English town in the Middle Ages, Robin Goodfellow, protagonist of this lively and immersive debut, is a boy with many names, "Little Imp,” "Witch's Boy," and even “demon child.” The one that matters most is what his mother calls him, Sprite. Born and raised by his mother and godmother Grimwig, Robin has no idea who his father is, though his mother claims he is nothing less than the king of the Fairies. "He came through the keyhole of my door when I was a girl, and he made me dance,” Robin’s “Mam” tells him. After getting caught poaching one of the lordling's fish, Robin runs away rather than face punishment. Lost in the woods, Robin meets a mysterious shepherd with the tantalizing name Oberon, who gives Robin a knife and a task: to cut a branch of willow and return home.

On his surprise return, Robin discovers that his mother’s health is ailing. Soon, bereft, Robin returns to the woods that debut author Cricket describes with era-appropriate awe and mystery—“the old trees keep what they know to themselves.” Robin is heartsick, believing his mother’s spirit now inhabits a bird, and soon encounters three fairies, whom he endeavors to trick into telling him who his father is. Cricket excels at fae play, at riddling logic, and at magic moments like Robin worrying, as he peers into “the wavy moonlit water,” that he sees “ not the eyes of a boy at all, but of some creature a thousand years old”.

The plot turns on Robin helping the villagers against a cruel baron, despite his belief that they don’t care a “fig” for the Witch’s Boy. But what lingers is this world. In clear, brisk prose, The Legend of Robin Goodfellow exults in a world of magic circles, “blurry mist”s, fairy tricks, and the conflict between paganism and the cosmology of the village’s Father Tom, who warns Robin that without prayer Mam may languish in Purgatory.

Takeaway: A healer’s shunned son must save the village in 12th Century England.

Comparable Titles: Pat Walsh’s Crowfield Abbey series; Donna Jo Napoli’s Breath.

Production grades
Cover: C
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: B