Once Upon a Time...
A handful of fall books invite youngsters to gather 'round. Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, trans. by Naomi Lewis, illus. by Joel Stewart, reads like an ode to the writer himself. Lewis gives readers a brief history of the author's life and career, then introduces each of the included 13 stories with details older readers will relish, including first publication date, musings from Andersen about the writing of the tales, and the stories' place in fairy tale history. Stewart models his story openers on the toy theatre so intrinsic to the author's childhood, and full-bleed, full-page dramatic paintings sit alongside whimsical spot illustrations that add flair to each page. A few of the included tales are The Snow Queen, The Little Mermaid and The Goblin at the Grocer's. Collectors and fans of Andersen's work will not want to overlook this anthology. (Candlewick, $22.99 208p ages 8-12 ISBN 0-7636-2515-9; Oct.)
Little Book of Fables by Verónica Uribe, trans. by Susan Ouriou, illus. by Constanza Bravo, is the third in the Little Books series, featuring a pint-size trim and tales from around the world. In this collection of 20 fables, 15 are by Aesop, and an endnote describes the remaining authors' contributions. The fables run from the familiar (The Tortoise and the Hare) to the more obscure (The Two Friends and the Bear). A dramatic, meticulously crafted full-page scene in pen-and-ink and watercolor wash opens each fable, and Bravo's spot illustrations as lead-in and fade-out create additional interest. (Groundwood [PGW, dist.], $8.95 128p ages 6-9 ISBN 0-88899-573-3; Oct.)
Some of today's best-known authors introduce their favorite verse in Once Upon a Poem: Favorite Poems That Tell Stories, a collection of 15 poems. Philip Pullman offers his thoughts on Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky and Mary Pope Osborne introduces Eugene Field's Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. Husband-and-wife teams Peter and Siân Bailey, and Carol Lawson and Chris McEwan lend their varied illustration styles to the pieces, with art ranging from the silly to the serene. A foreword by Kevin Crossley-Holland and a closing "About the Writers" section round out the collection nicely. (Scholastic/Chicken House, $18.95 128p all ages ISBN 0-439-65108-5; Nov.)
Well-known animal tales get a fresh look from eight contemporary artists in A Collection of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories. Peter Sís, Satoshi Kitamura and Jane Ray number among the artists, illustrating "How the Whale Got His Throat," "How the Camel Got His Hump" and "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin." The illustrators' individual styles lend each story a distinct feeling. Fans of Kipling's work will appreciate the new look and newcomers to the classic stories will be taken in by the bold artwork and approachable trim size. (Candlewick, $22.99 128p ages 4-up ISBN 0-7636-2629-5; Nov.)
An award-winning duo teams up for Sir Gawain & the Green Knight. England's children's laureate Michael Morpurgo retells this classic medieval tale with illustrations by Michael Foreman. Morpurgo handles the text with care and gives young readers just enough of the humor and darkness of the original tale without overwhelming them. (Candlewick, $18.99 112p ages 8-12 ISBN 0-7636-2519-1; Oct.)
And Then What Happened?
The sequel to Faerie Wars, which, according to PW, "will bring much pleasure to fans of Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series, and to fantasy readers in general," takes readers back to the realm of Pyrgus Malvae and his royal family in The Purple Emperor by Herbie Brennan. Though the first book's battle saw the defeat of Lord Hairstreak and the Faeries of the Night, you can't keep a bad faerie down. Hairstreak and his minions are back with a sinister plan to take over the Faerie Realm: using dark magic, Hairstreak resurrects the recently assassinated Purple Emperor—Pyrgus's father—and turns him into a zombie servant. (Bloomsbury, $17.95 431p ages 12-up ISBN 1-58234-880-4; Oct.)
In the third entry in her Truth or Dare series, Teens, Queens and Has-Beens, author Cathy Hopkins zooms in on Lia Axford, Ollie's younger sister (Ollie being the dreamboat from White Lies and Barefaced Truths), just after she has moved to the town of Cornwall. When Lia garners the attention of Jonno, "teen queen" Kaylie's crush, the queen and her cohorts lash out at Lia with rumors and other underhanded tactics. (Simon Pulse, $5.99 192p ages 12-up ISBN 0-689-87129-5; Nov.)
In Cruise Control by Terry Trueman, narrator Paul, brother to Shawn, the subject of Stuck in Neutral, takes center stage. His direct rapport with readers ("My only brother is a veg. Yep, a full-fledged, drooling, fourteen-year-old idiot") lends an immediacy to Paul's struggle with having a brother who suffers from cerebral palsy and the father who abandoned them. (HarperTempest, $15.99 160p ages 14-up ISBN 0-06-623960-5; Nov.)
Pass It On by J. Minter, the follow-up to The Insiders, which PW called "enticingly trashy," takes up once more with high-schooler Jonathan and his pals, Mickey, David, Arno and Patch. The author delivers the narrative with a wink. As the novel opens, Jonathan has just learned of his father's plans to remarry: "I stared down at my new Prada loafers but I found no solace there." (Bloomsbury, $8.95 paper 300p ages 14-up ISBN 1-58234-954-1; Nov.)
The Quigleys, which PW called an "engaging bit of fluff about the humorous vexations of an ordinary British family," get a third novel, once again comprised of four short stories, with The Quigleys: Not for Sale by Simon Mason. Here Mum, Dad, Lucy and Will take on a luxury hotel, tussle with their finances, and contemplate moving to a bigger house. (Random/Fickling, $14.95 176p ages 5-12 ISBN 0-385-75043-9; Nov.)
On Children's Literature
Selma G. Lanes begins her new collection of essays, Through the Looking Glass: Further Adventures and Misadventures in the Realm of Children's Literature by laying out the difference in climate in publishing today from when she wrote her first group of essays about children's books, Down the Rabbit Hole (1971). Her musings about her criteria for judging children's books as well as such provocative topics as the cost of political correctness in excluding works of literature will prompt discussion among booklovers everywhere. See Nonfiction Forecasts in this issue for a complete review. (Godine, $30 256p ISBN 1-56792-262-7; Dec.)
