In the first story in this collection, Children of Green Knowe, Tolly's great grandmother isn't a witch, but both she and her old house, Green Knowe, are full of a very special kind of magic. There are other children in the house - children who were happy there centuries before. Running around Green Knowe's moat, gardens and mysterious rooms, Tolly slowly discovers them, their toys and animals, and their wonderful stories . . .

Then, in River at Green Knowe, Ida, Oscar and Ping are staying with Ida's great-aunt at the ancient, river-encircled house of Green Knowe. 'What a lot of islands the river makes,' said Ida. 'We must go exploring and sail around them all.' And so begins a wonderful, magical summer as they set out to chart the river in the canoe, and soon discover that it has some surprising and mysterious secrets.