Hi all - I've been searching for years for a book I loved as a kid in the 1980s. I can't remember the title or the author, but I'm hoping that if I describe what I can remember, someone might figure it out. If I've posted this in the wrong place, please let me know and I'll re-post elsewhere. Here are the clues:
1) It was about a group of small people (perhaps dwarves, maybe more like halflings since I think I would have remembered the word 'dwarves') traveling down a river. The pace and tone were very easygoing, with a lot of gentle humor and wonder...that's one reason why I remember it, it was so different from the deadly serious tone of so much fantasy, then and now.
2) At one point, a character is given a magic coin. On each side of the coin was an etching of an ocean creature---and when you turned the coin over, a new creature would appear on the reverse side, so that you'd always have a new creature to look at.
Does this ring a bell with anyone? This is a mystery of my childhood that I would love to solve.
Thanks!
Dylan