1. When Mossy hears about the golden key, his first response is that he could sell it for money. Why would this act have been a big mistake? What is the author suggesting about material possessions?

2. Mossy is told that his father, apparently now dead, had also found the key. What do you suppose the father used the key for?

3. When she first arrives at Grandmother's cottage, Tangle's appearance and habits reflect her name: she is "untidy." Why does MacDonald give her this characteristic initially?

4. Grandmother, who is young and beautiful despite being "thousands of years old," wears a green gown and goes barefoot. Discuss the possibility that she is a personification of nature, a hint at what nature can teach us about the life of the spirit.

5. The fish's sacrifice of self has a beneficial effect on Tangle: she can understand the language of...