The Smallborn will capture the imagination of anyone who has ever enjoyed pretending that little people actually exist. A young girl named Ivy Teasel lives with her four brothers, her mama and papa, and her grandma inside an ancient oak, surrounded by Smallborn who inhabit other trees in their quiet village in the heart of an old forest. These little people are skilled in carving wood, and the interiors of their tree homes reflect that creative ability. They also understand the ways of the creatures around them so well that they can make fireflies dance and tell ants to clean the house. The use of plants for everything from medicine to embroidered milkweed gowns is a skill taught to every Healer among them. The first book in the Smallborn series shows Ivy as a 12-year-old girl who is about to enter school to learn her Gift. One of her brothers has a gift for inventing, another is a provider, and her mama is a Healer. But what is Ivy? Her journey toward discovering her Gift takes Ivy through predicaments and outright dangers, like an encounter with an evil rat, and the rescue a fairy deer and its rider. She begins to learn to trust her Shepherd, the giver of the gifts, and her family which includes the entire village of the Smallborn. Ivy is coming of age in a time of great fear as challenges are coming to the Smallborn that will shake and change them, and she must do her part to save all that she can of the Smallborn way of life.