When you live far from the bustle of the city, practically at the end of the world, one day is similar to another, and the passage of time obeys amazing and yet immutable laws: autumn comes not with the first coolness of the evening, but with the first apple pies baked Aunt Rufina. All events seem to have been planned in advance, and there is no way to influence them - especially if you are still very young. But Ksenchik’s life is by no means boring, adventures are invented on their own, and fiction is sometimes intricately intertwined with reality: in a house over a cliff lives a Giantess grandmother, the neighbor turns out to be not a kind old woman at all, but an insidious Brown Bear, while the goat Lapushka is in fact a beautiful girl, only enchanted. Ksenia’s world is not the same as that of adults: almost everything is possible in it, even an imaginary Boy can become a reliable friend, albeit sometimes indecisive. And most importantly, to help your mother, you can turn to the fairies - and they will certainly help out! The magical realism of the story “The House on the Cliff” has a therapeutic quality. For the main character, imagination and play are an escape from reality, a way to come to terms with the truth about the adult world, which she, willy-nilly, whether desired or not, realizes. For the reader, Ksenchik’s fantasies are a thread, by pulling which you can unravel the tangle of her experiences - and at the same time understand your own feelings. Daria Dotsuk is a journalist, the author of several books for children, a finalist of the “Kniguru” competition and a diploma winner of the award named after. V. P. Krapivina. “The House on the Cliff” is a work in which the writer managed to combine the heroine’s whimsical imaginary world and philosophical depth, and without a shadow of the author’s “know-it-all”: there seems to be no intermediary between Ksenia and the reader at all. The illustrator of the book was Olga Brezinskaya, who designed the story “Children of the Dolphins” " by Tamara Mikheeva (published by CompassGuide). Her works make the magic of children's imagination realistic - in full accordance with the genre of the book. For readers of primary and secondary school age, “The House on the Cliff” can become a guide to the world of “great” literature.