The Kitchen Warriors — Joan Aiken

A secret village of elves living in the cupboard must fend off vacuum witches and deep-freeze trolls in the battles of the kitchen wars

The people who live in the house have no idea that an entire village of elves resides in their china cupboard, behind the soup bowls and bread-and-butter plates. And when the humans start their spring-cleaning by taking everything out of the cabinets, the king elf's crown disappears. Now the elven community is in a terrible state, and the only way to save the realm is to find what their ruler has lost.
 
Luckily Prince Coriander has returned, after years of training at the elf school, to hunt down the crown. But the kitchen holds hidden dangers -- Fendire, the infrared dragon who lurks behind the gas burners; deep-freeze trolls who can swallow an elf in a single mouthful; very scary kelpies in the dishwasher; and the great cat Mistigris. The prince soon finds himself battling a furnace dragon, retrieving his mother's ring from the bottom of the dishwasher, and rescuing a nixie girl who lives in the kitchen sink -- all while racing to discover who will become the new king of the elves!
 
This ebook features illustrations by Jo Worth and a personal history of Joan Aiken including rare images from the author's estate.