Only Granny Runnery knows why the grain is disappearing from the granary and how to fix this problem. The first few pages explain the importance of granaries and mills; after that the focus is on various failed attempts to get rid of the unknown culprits followed by the solution offered by the elder of the family. The pictures are nice and reminiscent of Old Masters’. SPOILER: The monsters aren’t too monstrous for young children. No one is hurt in the making of this story, not even the gnomes and we learn that old people have value. But the message is too obvious and the baddies too unrelated to anything else in the story, including reality. And the gnomes don’t stop their bad behavior; they just do it someplace else. I don’t need to keep this book. ( )