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On her 11th birthday, Marnie finds an old shoebox containing four carved wooden animals that come to life, and discovers that she is the inheritor of her deceased mother's power to find a mysterious book of forbidden knowledge that will allow the animals to return to human form.

In every generation dawns

A most auspicious day

The day when four elevens meet

And sleepers have their say

The Day to which the fickle sands

Of time and tide have run

The day when fate and prophecy

Reveal the Chosen One

It's the worst birthday Marnie McBride's ever had. Still grieving from her mum's death and her recent move from Colorado to Scotland, she sees no reason to celebrate turning 11. But when her dad wants to go into an old junk shop on the way home, Marnie grumpily agrees.

There, the strange old man who owns the junk shop offers her anything in the shop. She's drawn towards a shoebox filled with four toy animals - a snake, bear, wolf and eagle.

The next day, Marnie's playing around with a spoon and pretending it's a magic wand. To her horror, the four animals come alive.

They're not the only ones to awaken... Toledo the Shape Shifter also comes to life, and Marnie's going to have to battle him in a quest to find the wizard Michael Scot's Book of Forbidden Knowledge, with which she can return the animals to their human forms.