Bilbo's Last Song

J. R. R. Tolkien. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, $12.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-375-82373-2

When it first appeared in 1990, PW called Bilbo's Last Song by J.R.R. Tolkien, illus. by Pauline Baynes, ""a must for all fans of Tolkien's vast, epic fantasy."" The poem, purportedly written by Bilbo Baggins (hero of The Hobbit) just before he takes ship from Middle-earth to the Undying Lands at the end of The Lord of the Rings, gives rise to Bayne's medieval-flavored paintings. ""The effect is stirring, the mood elegiac and the imagery riveting,"" said PW. (Sept.)

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