ELFSONG

The first book of a projected trilogy. While exploring with her grandfather, Maddy, 10, sees a tomcat racing through the woods and ``on its back it wore a saddle.'' Later, she finds the saddle, beautifully made of green tooled leather. Maddy meets the missing rider, an elf named Nata, after he charms away her own cat to replace the tom. Elfin law forbids contact with humans but Nata, threatened by a marauding owl, is desperate. Maddy and her grandfather prove their friendship by joining the battle against the owl. Some details are compelling, especially the common language of music (at one point, Maddy calms the wary elf by singing part of a Bach prelude). The descriptions of the saddle and Nata's handling of his feline mount are wonderful, but readers may crave more concrete detail. Unlike The Borrowers (1953), in which the society is so completely visualized that Mary Norton seems to be describing folk she has met, this tale leaves readers with a nagging awareness that someone is making it all up. The dialogue often feels forced, and the notion of elf song visible as colored notes is starkly reminiscent of a place called Disney. (glossary) (Fiction. 8-12)