Annie M. G Schmidt

Minou, formerly a cat but now a woman with many cattish ways, helps Tibbs, a newspaper reporter, with information she gets from her many feline friends.

Life at home is a struggle for nine-year-old Johannes: his mother has recently passed away, his father is preoccupied, and his older sister has no time for him. Then one night Johannes discovers Wiplala, a little man with magical powers who lives in the kitchen cupboard. Johannes is thrilled to have a friend all his own; until one of Wipala's spells accidentally shrinks him and his family down to four inches in height!