The Magic Knot

The Magic Knot is a making-tale comedy, starring Pine Cone and Pepper Pot the gnomes. They decide, since it is soon to be Tiptoes’ birthday and she has no furniture in her little house, to make her one table and three chairs. A simple task for clever gnomes—so we would think! But, from the finding of the ‘perfect’ branch, to getting the table and chairs to the top of the Great Oak Tree where Tiptoes’ acorn house swings back and forth, things go awry. On the way they get the help of a host friends: Ompliant the Elephant, Jeremy Mouse, the Carpenter Ants, Chiron the Pony and Spin-a-lot the Spider (to name just a few). Finally, when her surprise birthday party finally rolls around, Tiptoes tells the enchanting tale of how she came to live in the Great Oak Tree as a daughter of Father Sun and Mother Wind.

The Magic Knot is lavishly illustrated by the artist-author. It is full of innocent, sanguine humor, and is suitable for reading to young children or for young children to read (ages 4 to 9).

An additional, brief, story, The Tale of None, is found at the end of the book. It is about a ladybug who had no spots—none at all!—until she completes her spot-finding journey to India, Africa and America ... Purchase now!

Tiptoes Lightly

The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly
The Bee who lost his Buzz
Pumpkin Crow
Lucy Goose and the Half-egg

Follow the adventures of Tiptoes Lightly, a fairy who lives in an acorn high up in the branches of a Great Oak Tree. Her tree sits on a knoll overlooking Running River, and she and her friends have a host of adventures. First they help the bee who lost his buzz – snagged on a thorn belonging to grumpy Mr. Cactus!

Then they visit the house of Pine Cone and Pepper Pot and sail down to the sea to untangle Octopus – he’s too young to count his legs properly and gets them mixed up!

They journey up to Snowy Mountain to hear from Jack Frost himself what kind of being he really is – and Jack tells the dramatic tale of how he came to be. Finally, after too many adventures to list here, they find out who the real mother of the half-egg is – one that Lucy Goose found in the mud and is determined to hatch along with her own eggs.

Lavishly illustrated by the author-artist, these are simple, innocent and magical tales set in nature. Humorous, reverent, sanguine and droll, they are suitable for reading to young children (kindergarten to grade 3) or for young children to read (grades 1 – 4). Soft cover; 104 pages...    Purchase now!

Big-Stamp Two-Toes

Big-Stamp Two-Toes the Barefoot Giant
Ompliant’s Owie
Big-Stamp Two-Toes the Barefoot Giant

Accompany Tiptoes Lightly and her many friends as they journey through springtime. Ompliant the Elephant gets to see Jemima Mouse’s babies (he just can’t believe they are pink with no fur!), but not before his leg has been thoroughly, and humorously, pulled by Chit-Chat the Chipmunk.
However, Ompliant’s feet are big, and the very next day Tom Nutcracker bravely follows the giant footprints deep into the forest – only to get himself hopelessly treed (luckily you-know-who helps him down in the end).
Other adventures are had too; such as when Tiptoes meets Spinner the Dolphin and shows him his very first flowers, and Pine Cone and Pepper Pot the gnomes sail down Running River to Pixie Island and hear how the little blue and yellow Forget-me-not got its name. Later, while visiting ‘The Rock’, they are told how this huge boulder came to be sitting in the middle of the forest – because of Big-Stamp Two-Toes the Barefoot Giant, of course!

Extensively illustrated by the author, these are magical, humorous and reverent tales set in nature. Suitable for reading to children (late kindergarten to grade 3 or 4) or for young children to read (grades 1 – 4). Soft cover; 100 pages...     Purchase now!

The Festival of Stones

The Festival of Stones
The Festival of Stones
The Christmas Star

Join Tiptoes Lightly and her friends as they celebrate the best of the autumn festivals: Michaelmas, Halloween, Martinmas, Advent and Christmas. Many adventures are had and festival tales told: at Michaelmas Farmer John recounts ‘The Most Beautiful Dragon in the Whole World’ to his children, Tom Nutcracker and June Berry, and on Christmas day he reads them ‘The Burden Bull of Scotland’.
Tiptoes also tells tales – her favorites being ‘The Myth of Ella-jah’ which recounts how the animals were created, and the story of ‘The Sun-child and the Birds’ which she tells on Christmas eve.
On the way, Jeremy Mouse meets Olivia who lives inside an olive tree, is frightened at Halloween (by a You-know-what!), and almost drowns in Soggy Mire because the ice is too thin for sliding on – luckily he is saved by Mr. Owl the Vegetarian! Finally, Tiptoes and Jeremy Mouse build the first, and finest, snow-mouse the world has ever seen.

Capturing the inner mood of nature during autumn and winter, these lavishly illustrated tales are reverent, humorous and sacred. Suitable for reading to children (late kindergarten to grade 3 or 4) or for young children to read (grades 2 to 4). Soft cover; 100 pages.   Purchase now!

Color and Gesture - the inner life of color

Color and Gesture explores the inner life of color in a way that only eurythmy and the initiation science of Rudolf Steiner make possible. What appears is a world of incredible richness, depth and beauty in the most common, unlikely and unexpected of places—gesture. Gesture reveals the human soul, and the fabric of the soul is color; as a result, we find that the souls’ infinite expressiveness, with all its goodness, pathos, waywardness and humor, is intimately woven through with color experiences.

When we approach gesture via color, we discover whole gesture families, with, at times, the most unforeseen of bedfellows. We gain new insights into soul gestures, acting gestures, animal, planetary and zodiac gestures. The underlying eurythmic gestures of speech and music are also explored, and we learn to experience how the color chords underlying gesture are themselves a structured, musically-ordered language.

And when we approach color via gesture, we find inner laws, relationships and dynamics which allow us to gain, via artistic activity, not only a deeper understanding of color as a whole, but also a conscious foothold in the astral and etheric worlds.

Contents include: 51 Chapters plus Overview and Indexes, 250+ Figures and 170+ Haloes.
Subjects covered: Color Dynamics, Rudolf Steiner’s Eurythmy Figures, Soul Gestures, Color Figures, Acting Figures, Animal Gestures, Speech and Music Figures, Eurythmy Exercises, Elements and Ethers, Etc.

Available from the author, Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore, or AWSNA Publications

Retail: $68.50, ISBN: 978-0-9794452-1-7, Binding: Perfect bound, Format: 8.25 x 10.75 inches, Pages: 532.    Purchase now!

Toys inspired by Tiptoes Lightly

Tiptoes Lightly
~ a fairy doll ~

Tiptoes is a light-as-air doll, handmade
from wool roving she hangs from a golden thread.
An original design based on the fairy
Tiptoes Lightly from Reg Down’s
magical children’s books.Use her for storytelling,
while reading to your children at bedtime,
as a decoration in a window, over a bed,
or in your child’s play-space.

Tiptoes is 9 inches tall and will enchant any child or adult. Handmade in the USA
Purchase HERE


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Pine Cone and Pepper Pot
~ the forest gnomes ~

Two wonderful gnome dolls patterned
after two favorite characters
from Reg Down’s delightful books.
They are both 8 inches tall, handmade with wool dyed in beautiful, muted woodland colors.
Use them at bedtime to act out stories,
or lead your child in imaginative play.
Boys and girls alike will enjoy these two characters!
Handmade in the USA
Purchase HERE


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Praise for Tiptoes Lightly

“This is a fascinating book by an extraordinarily imaginative writer. In addition, Mr. Down is a wizard. With some help from Tiptoes Lightly and a few of her friends he conjures up stories and myths associated with the seasons, in this case autumn and winter, that captivate and fascinate his readers and listeners.”
The Reading Tub—Review of The Festival of Stones

“I wish there was something like this (Tiptoes Lightly) when my two children were growing up.
It’s a wonderful book.”
Louise Riveiro-Mitchell – author of ‘Autumn Sky’
Book Review Cafe

“Our preschooler hasn’t been a big chapter-book fan, but she routinely asked for another Tiptoes Story.” “Borrow or Buy?: Buy!  It’s a great way to introduce the chapter book concept to young readers and will be a book that middle-readers will enjoy a second (or third) time around.”
The Reading Tub Review

“I read these stories to the children in my class every week for a whole year – they loved them! Their faces shone with obvious delight – I recommend them highly.”
Miki Higashine - grade school teacher

“Copies of Tiptoes Lightly and the Festival of Stones are flying off the shelves of our school bookstore! We will be ordering more soon, and would love to include Big-stamp too if he’s ready for his debut!”
Rebecca Dawson – Enchanted Caravan Bookstore - Cape Ann Waldorf School

“For five years the children in my kindergarten delighted in experiencing the adventures of Tiptoes and her many friends. These tales are filled with wonder, magic and joy.”
Susan Rice - kindergarten teacher

“Reg Down has created a magical world where children can be nurtured through storytelling.”
Margarita Cervantes - kindergarten teacher

“Reg Down is a masterful storyteller…”
Paula Mandella - teacher & musician

“I’ve fallen in love with Tiptoes.”
Donella Jean - mother of two =============================================================================