'Unsettling, puckish, and brilliantly written, this novel is an absolute one-off. I loved it' CLAIRE FULLER'Magical, perplexing and funny in a wholly original way' RACHEL YODER'Bamford conjures, in vivid, amplified language, how children fluidly and unpredictably make sense of the world ? [Idle Grounds] is unsettling, sharply funny at times, with carefully built-up layers of dis-ease delivered in a comic deadpan' GUARDIAN'A masterclass in misdirection' FINANCIAL TIMES'Superb' THE TELEGRAPHAs always with these things it started with a birthday...