Young Linnet, her father, and the other bird-people, the Alkonosts, have been driven to live in the swamps of Morovia, forbidden to sing magic, and often hunted by the humans, so when her father is captured Linnet embarks on a rescue mission.
Mr. Fish recalls how, on his very first day of school, he anxiously went to one classroom after another watching students do things he could not, until Miss Hewitt showed him to the room that was right for beginners.