Road to Oz: Twists, Turns, Bumps, and Triumphs in the Life of L. Frank Baum

Road to Oz: Twists, Turns, Bumps, and Triumphs in the Life of L. Frank Baum
by
Kathleen Krull and Kevin Hawkes
biography for children grades 2 - 5

L. Frank Baum was a dreamer and failed at quite a number of ventures before becoming one of the bestselling authors in American history with his series of Oz books.

I suppose this is an okay book for students writing reports, but I found nothing distinguishing about the writing. The illustrator, on the other hand, Kevin Hawkes did a great job with his illustrations. Some are single color (green ink) and others are full color. He must have studied the works of W. W. Denslow, the first Oz artist, but he does not reproduce Denslow's style exactly. I will read more Kevin Hawkes' children's books based on his treatment of this one.

I appreciate the list of Baum Oz Books in the back and the works cited.

If the reader is into Oz at all, I recommend watching "The Dreamer of Oz", a made for television movie with John Ritter as Baum.

I wonder why the author and publisher decided to name this book "The Road to Oz". There is a different book written by L. Frank Baum named "The Road to Oz" so these will forever be confusing to patrons looking in library catalogs by title.

Crystal the Snow Fairy

Crystal the Snow Fairy
Rainbow Magic
The Weather Fairies
by
Daisy Meadows and Georgie Ripper
children's fiction, about a 2nd grade reading level

This is the second series of books about the Rainbow Magic Fairies from Scholastic.
In this series Rachel and Kirsty, human girls, must help fairies get some magical feathers back from Jack Frost who is using the magic in the feathers to wreak havoc with the weather.
These are quick and easy reads for girls. Most readers will want to read the whole series, which reminds me to get on hold for the next one in this series - Abigail the Breeze Fairy. Public and school librarians should make sure to buy the whole series. They come as a boxed set, so this is not a problem.

Incarceron

Incarceron
by
Catherine Fisher
YA/Adult fantasy/science fiction
Times (of London) Children's Book of the Year

This is a full length novel (442 pages) with adult themes (court life, marriage, criminology), so I am surprised to see that it won a children's book award. I suppose it could be enjoyed by 15-18 year olds as well as adults, but if I had not seen that it was in our library's YA section (with the unicorn sticker indicating fantasy) and that it had won a children's book award I would have assumed that the target audience was adults. There is some violence and gore in the book, but it is not overdone or gratuitous. It makes sense in describing the physical conditions under which people are living.
The premise is that society has had enough of the criminal element and the negative influence of technology. It is decreed that people will return to a less complicated, more primitive existence. They re-created a medieval/renaissance world (although everyone knows that people cheat all the time with hidden technology). They banish their criminals to a new land - Incarceron. But the criminals are to be treated kindly and given food and education in a utopian setting. Something goes wrong, however, and the computer program set up to run Incarceron instead punishes the inhabitants of its world and resources become more and more scarce.
The story is told through the eyes of the prison Warden's daughter who is soon to marry the Prince of the outside world. What will she find out about Incarceron and what can she do about it?

Plain Kate

Plain Kate
by
Erin Bow

This book was not what I expected. I received a newsletter saying that it was a good teen fantasy read. It won a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults at the 2011 ALA Midwinter conference. It is published by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic.
When I checked the book out, the cover had a unicorn sticker on it and it was in the YA fantasy fiction section. The image on the cover of the book is of a girl and her cat on a roof of some pre-1900 city.

A) I read the book and don't remember her walking on any city roofs.
B) Most of the book is not set in a city, but in small villages and gypsy camps.
C) This is not a cutesy unicorn book.
D) I would not call this a fantasy book but a horror book.

By the time I got 1/3 of the way through the book about an orphaned girl who can carve wonderful figure the book had clearly taken a turn into a horror book. There is black magic with lots of blood letting and nasty ghost/demons and a twisted warlock. The book is pretty well written, but I couldn't get past the wicked parts. I skim/read the last 2/3 of it to find out how it ended. There were some unexpected twists. It is an original work and the talking cat character is great, but it is more for the Twilight vampire crowd than for the "unicorn" reader and I would not recommend it to readers under the age of 16.

Clockwork Three

Clockwork Three
by Matthew Kirby
unabridged book on compact disc
ages 9-12

This is a book that reads like a fantasy book, but really doesn't have anything magical or mystical happen in it. I kept wondering when the outrageous science fiction/fantasy stuff would happen, but the "what-if" part of it was very realistic. I guess if I had to categorize this I would say it is alternative history since the events that take place did not actually happen. Or did they? I suppose they could have. This book is set in mid 1800's Boston. It features some characters with extraordinary talents in music and science and herblore and larger than life people, such as a mysterious medium and a huge Russian bodyguard.
This book follows three down and out young people (ages 11-13). Frederick, Hannah, and Giuseppe are all in need of miracles.
Frederick is an apprentice clockmaker who wants to make the best automaton ever. He is also looking for his mother who gave him up to an orphanage. He fears that he
will never make master status with out this.
Hannah is the breadwinner for her family after her father is disabled by a stroke. It would take a miracle of medicine or faith to get him back on his feet.
Giuseppe is an violin-playing orphan boy from Italy who is sold into indentured servitude to a harsh master who runs a gang of street buskers. His tale is something straight out of a Dickens' novel.
As the plot develops these three young people meet and have adventures.
Some of the story dragged, such as the scene describing the opera in painstaking detail, but by the end of the story I did not want to stop the CD and needed to know what would happen next. The book and audio would probably have benefited from some condensing to leave just "the good parts version" (to quote the grandfather from the "Princess Bride").
I found the most fascinating part of this audiobook to be the interview with the author afterward. His character of Giuseppe was based on a true story that was published in the New York Times about orphan buskers. Even if someone doesn't want to listen to this entire book, it is worth listening to the interview in the end.

AngelCat Sugar: Spring Picnic

AngelCat Sugar: Spring Picnic
created by Yuko Shimizu
by Ellie O'Ryan and Sachiho Hino

Scholastic Reader Level 2, 250-750 words, developing reader, new vocabulary and longer sentences, grade level 1-2, lexile level 410L

I was disappointed with the plot of the last AngelCat Sugar book I checked out, but since she is EXTREMELY cute, I thought I would try again. In this book, Sugar and friends want to fly kites and have a picnic. Everyone wants to do things his or her way. Sugar works out a compromise where everyone is happy. There is a little geometry and physics thrown in as they see what shape of kite flies the best. AngelCat Sugar has been redeemed in my mind by this book with a much better plot than the one about the snail ("AngelCat Sugar: A New Friend"). I still have not figured out if AngelCat is one word or two (Angel Cat).

Tuck Everlasting

Tuck Everlasting
by
Natalie Babbitt
read by Peter Thomas
unabridged book on cassettes
children's fantasy fiction

I vaguely remember watching all or part of the movie that came out a few years ago, so I knew the basic plot. From the movie I remember there being a romance, but the original story does not have romance - just a hint of "what if" to it. The main character (Winnie) is only 10 years old, so romance is not appropriate.
Peter Thomas is a veteran narrator, so his voice comes across strong and pleasant. This audio book is unabridged and runs 3:31. I think it could have easily been shortened to 2 hours, however. The description in the book, while rich, picturesque, and thoughtful is a bit dull after about an hour. The entire book takes place in a 3 day time period, so do we really need that much detail? I was especially annoyed when one of the characters pauses to recount what happened to him, in great detail. I just heard what happened to him a half hour ago. I didn't need a reminder!

The plot: They do not say until the very end of the book when the action takes place, but it is about 1880. They never say where, either, but it is in pioneer America. Ten year old Winnie lives a civilized and dull existence as an only child in a prosperous family. She yearns for some kind of excitement to come into her life. She certainly gets it when she discovers in the woods beside her family's home a family of four. She is the first person in many years to figure out the secret to their life. They drank from a Fountain of Youth and now must live until the end of time. There is a great deal of discussion about whether this is a blessing or curse and by the end of the book Winnie must decide for herself if she wants to drink from the spring as well. If you have forever are you obliged to make a positive difference in the world? What would it be like to see your loved ones die - or not die?

The premise of this book is a good one, and it is discussion-worthy, but I would have preferred for it to be shorter. This is on a number of recommended reading lists, but I have read better books. It sold a lot of copies, so I am at least a little surprised that the author did not follow up with a series of books about the Tuck family. They could have had a lot of adventures in their lifetimes. There could be separate books for the father, mother, and the two sons, as well as more than one book apiece for different times of their lives. One could be set in 1840, 1860, 1880, 1900, 1920, 1940, etc. I guess when the book came out in 1975 books in series were not as popular as they are today.

Claire and the Unicorn Happy Ever After

Claire and the Unicorn Happy Ever After
by
B. G. Hennessy
and
Susan Mitchell
children's fantasy fiction, ages 3-8

What makes for a happy ending? Who decides what "happily ever after" is?

A girl, Claire, asks her father about this after he reads yet another bedtime story that ends with "happy ever after". (I don't know why is isn't the more commonly used "happily ever after'). Her father turns the question around and asks Claire what she thinks the answer is. Claire dreams about what the answers would be from various fantasy tales and creatures.

This is a good bedtime story that can be read by a parent and help get a child to think about pleasant things while falling asleep.

Magicians

The Magicians
by
Lev Grossman
adult fantasy fiction

1. Couldn't he come up with a better title? Try googling "magicians" to find this book - ha!

2. I don't know what the author was trying to do with this book. Is it a parody of the Harry Potter books? It it inspired by Harry Potter? Is it riding on the shirttails of Harry Potter? That being said, it was a pretty decent book and worth a read. I just don't know what the author or publisher was thinking. He even mentions Tolkien and others in the book.

3. I don't understand why there is a tree on the cover.

Plot: A senior in high school is recruited to go to Wizard school. A bunch of stuff happens that is very Harry Potter-like. Then a bunch of stuff happens which is very Narnia-like. I mean it is so similar that it makes you think that it was stolen from Rowling and Lewis, but put together in a way not quite like either. This book has some sex and drug use and drinking, so it is not as innocent as Potter or Narnia. I guess the target audience is adults or teenagers whose parents don't mind that they are reading about sex and drugs. They say the students are at college and the book covers about 5 years, but then later in the book they say the students are teenagers. In my world of math 17 years old + 5 years = age 22, not a teenager. I didn't get that.
Some reviewers said it drew from World mythology including Jewish mythology, but I don't know if this is true or not.
I guess I recommend this for 16+ readers who enjoy fantasy books but they might end up as perplexed as I.

Shadow

Shadow
by
Jenny Moss
teen fiction, romance fiction, fantasy fiction

Why did she call her book "Shadow"? As if there are not already 20 other books with that title in my catalog! She should have called it "Shadow of the Queen" or "Life in the Shadow" or "My Name is Shadow" or "Only a Shadow" or something rather than this one word title!

Shadow doesn't know anything about her parents. She doesn't even have a name. People have taken to calling her "Shadow" because she is always around in the shadows. She knows that for her whole life she has been assigned to help the queen and to protect the queen against the prophecy that says that she will be murdered on her 16th birthday. She and the queen don't get along, however, and would it really be so bad for the spoiled brat to die? Then Shadow could get on with her life.
Events happen that move Shadow out of the shady place and into a starring role. Will the mystery of her life be answered? Can she get past her brooding? Is that handsome knight someone who is interested in her?

This was an okay book, but a little too much brooding and teen angst for my taste. For the right audience (probably a 14 year old female) this would be fine.

Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Classic Comics Retelling)

Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Classic Comics Retelling)
by L. Frank Baum, Eric Shanower and Skottie Young
children's fantasy fiction, ages 6-10

I have read the original Wonderful Wizard of Oz many, many times, as well as at least 40 other Oz books and comics, saw the Broadway musical, Wicked, viewed the MGM movie and other movies about Oz, and watched the television show, so I am VERY familiar with this story.
In this case, Eric Shanower has condensed the plot to make this an accessible read for voracious readers and reluctant readers alike. Skottie Young's illustrations are NOTHING like the previous illustrations I have seen in Oz books, although there have been so many different comic book takes on Oz (some of which are not at all true to Baum's original intentions) that I can not say if other comic book illustrators have given Dorothy and friends a similar treatment.
The results are the old shown and told in a fresh way. Fans of Baum (and Shanower has his fans as well) are in for a treat with this book and the bonus feature - a sketchbook in the back of the book showing different ideas that the illustrator toyed with in developing the book. Graphic arts students would enjoy that part. I recommend this book for public and school libraries across America (and other countries as well). I am not sure if I would put it in the juvenile, or YA sections of the library, though. It can be enjoyed by many ages of audience. My library has it under "Y, graphic novels".

Son of a Witch

Son of a Witch
by
Gregory Maguire
audiobook read by the author
12 hours long
adult fantasy fiction
second in a trilogy
1. Wicked
2. Son of a Witch
3. A Lion among Men

I love Oz books and have since I was about 7 years old. I have read many, many Oz books and seen just about all the movies except for a few silent films. I read "Wicked", the first in this trilogy and thought it was an insightful look at a much travelled path. I saw the musical based on "Wicked".
In this case, I opted to listen to the audiobook instead of reading the print book. I knew I would be in the car quite a bit and would have the time to read it. The book is read by the author who does a commendable job at giving voice to different characters. One has a British accent, another a Southern accent, another is as old as dirt with a shaky voice. The big problem that I had with this book, however, is that it dragged on and on and on. I do not anticipate EVER AGAIN listening to 12 HOURS of a book. It seemed like it would never end! Twelve hours is longer than a mini-series and about as long as an entire season of a BBC television program. My library has shelf upon shelf of audiobooks LONGER than this one. I have seen some on the shelf that are up to 30 hours long or so. Who can listen to something that long? I think I have a fairly good attention span and have read books that are 650 pages long or so, but now I find that I can not STAND audiobooks more than 6 hours or so.
I think the only time I might contemplate listening to something this long again is if it has a full cast of characters, an orchestra, and recaps the previous night's episode at the beginning of each disc. Even then, I don't think I would want more than 8 hours at best. I have found that I much prefer the 1 hour radio dramas to these drawn out productions. I am going to stick to the young adult and children's sections of audiobooks for a while - but even there I see that there are extremely long volumes of 10 hours or more. Yikes!
Back to the content:
I am fairly certain that I would have enjoyed this book more in the printed format. It was a mere 337 pages long. That is just an average size for a book. It did have some drawn out philosophical parts that I probably would have skimmed or read quickly. As I reached the end I realized that the author had no intentions of tying up loose ends as he intended this book to be number two of three books. That was also annoying.
Here is the plot:
Liir lives his life as a drifter. He doesn't know for sure, but he and some others suspect that his mother was the Wicked Witch of the West and his father was a statesman who cheated on his wife. After the witch's death Liir eventually finds himself joining the National Guard for something to do. He finds a sense of belonging there, but still has serious gaps in his education, his sense of morality, and sense of being. Animals come to him hoping that he will help fight for their rights like his mother did. He is constantly insisting that he is not magical like Elphaba and he can't help - or can he? He learns to fly on her broomstick and becomes a revolutionary like the witch.
I don't think this is the Oz that L. Frank Baum imagined, but it is thoughtful and original. I wish the author would have resolved some more mysteries in this book, but instead he lives the audience in suspense for book three. Eventually I will get around to reading book three IN PRINT.

100 Cupboards

100 Cupboards
by
N. D. Wilson
children's fantasy fiction
narrated by Russell Horton
an unabridged CD production

This audiobook was exceedingly dull for the first 4 out of 5 discs. The narrator described in great detail the wood grain, color, etc. of cupboards in an attic bedroom. I hated this in Tolkien and Steinbeck's works and it was boring in this book. Sure, the cupboards were magic and gateways to other worlds/dimensions, but MORE ACTION AND LESS DESCRIPTION, please. The plot itself is good - go to other worlds through cupboards, but this begs to be ABRIDGED!
Henry comes to visit his aunt, uncle, and cousins in Kansas and discovers these gateway cupboards that were created by his mathematician grandfather. He is not an adventurous type, though, and hesitates to try them out. Fortunately Henrietta, his cousin, has more gumption. There is an evil witch from Endor and some good stuff. This would probably even make for a good movie, once the tedious parts are removed.
As a bonus, the author throws in some good baseball scenes demonstrating the magic of baseball in the good ole' USA.
The ending leaves room for plenty of sequels. I'll wait for the movies, though.

Magic Tree House # 1: Dinosaurs before Dark

Magic Tree House # 1: Dinosaurs before Dark
by
Mary Pope Osborne
and
Sal Murdocca
Reading level - 2nd grade

Jack and Annie climb into a tree house, read some books, then wish they were experiencing what one of the books is about. They get their wish! They are in the land of dinosaurs. They see Mama dinosaurs with eggs, flying dinosaurs, and more. Chased by a Tyrannosaurus rex, they decide it is time to go home! This adventure story has wide appeal and is the start of the popular series. The last time I checked there were 28 books in this series so far. I guess it is on to book #2 now - The Knight at Dawn.
http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/magictreehouse/

Lady Carliss and the Waters of Moorue

Lady Carliss and the Waters of Moorue
by Chuck Black
adult or young adult fantasy fiction
http://www.perfect-praise.com/
This book is number 4 in a series:
1. Sir Kendrick & the Castle of Bel Lione
2. Sir Bentley & Holbrook Court
3. Sir Dalton & the Shadow Heart
4. Lady Carliss & the Waters of Moorue.
This is what the author's website says about the series:
Building upon the Kingdom of Arrethtrae as created in The Kingdom Series books, these stories fit within the time of the waiting years, between books 3 and 5. This is analogous to the Church Age or the Time of the Gentiles. This is not a chronological series like the Kingdom Series, for each book stands alone and tells of the adventures of individual knights during this time period.

I didn't know any of that, when I agreed to read this book. All that I knew was that it was published by Waterbrook Press and the title of the book. The cover shows a woman with a bow and arrows so I figured it was a fantasy book or Robin Hood-type book featuring her as the heroine. Without the cover, I might have assumed from the title that this was some kind of Regency Romance, so I guess it is good that they have the cover they have to clarify what this book covers.

In Chuck Black's fantasy world of Arrethtrae the Christians are Followers of the King and many train to fight the good fight as knights and ladies (that is to say lady knights). His heroes and heroines are brave, valiant, strong, and physically and mentally equipped to serve the King and His Son. In the notes, the author states that he wanted to write books that would inspire his children to live for and serve Jesus. There is an extensive study guide so this book can be used with youth groups. There is even sheet music include for a song inspired by this book - "Journey to Moorue", written by Emily Elizabeth Black. I always appreciate a map, glossary, and cast of characters. This publisher provided a map, but no glossary or cast of characters. The discussion guide more than makes up for this as it includes all kinds of notes and explanations.

If we ignore all the extras included in this affordable softbound book ($9.99), we still have a great story. Truehearted Lady Carliss is a young knight returning home on furlough. As in the cliffhanger films of yesteryear, however, our heroine can not stay out of trouble for very long. She doesn't even reach home before trouble finds her. The village of her companion has been raided and her fellow knight's family has been taken. To add to her trouble, Carliss's maybe-boyfriend has been bitten by a vicious lizard and is in a coma! This all happens in the first few pages, which sets the tone for this action adventure fantasy story. Carliss is constantly having to make decisions about how to act. Will she take the high road or settle for being ordinary? Will she opt to save one or many? She acts with vision and courage as she befriends the friendless, fights against evil drug dealers, and struggles with her own wishes for her future. Black does not leave us with a one-dimensional view of the heroine, however. He does admit that she has doubts and selfish thoughts. In the end, we know she will do what is right.
I am sick and tired of "flawed heroes". Why do modern comic books and movies think that they have to change our heroes into complicated, struggling beings? I like my Superman to be Super and my Wonder Woman to be Wonderful. Good guys should wear white hats. Knights should be noble. I agree with Black that we need to be inspired by our heroes. Lady Carliss is someone to aspire to be.

I will recommend this book to my 13 year old cousin who enjoys fantasy books, but I don't think his books are just for children. I know of at least 3 adults who would also enjoy his tales as a change of pace from the massive 600 page fantasy books currently being marketed for adults. (This book weighs in at 185 pages even with the readers' guide included). I read this book in less than a day. I will have to put the rest of his books on my to-read list, starting with his first book set in this realm- Kingdom's Dawn in the Kingdom Series.

P. S. Arrethtrae is "Earth Terra" backwards.
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This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. This is available for purchase at http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/ and many other fine locations.

Raven's Ladder: The Gold Strand in the Auralia Thread

Raven's Ladder: The Gold Strand in the Auralia Thread
by Jeffrey Overstreet
Adult Fantasy fiction

This is number three in a series. I accidentally started reading this one, number 3, without reading number 2 first. Oops. I had read Auralia's Colors (number 1) so I was able to catch on to what had happened in number 2 (Cyndere's Midnight). In case you were wondering, this is not the end of a trilogy but number 3 in a quartet/tetralogy/quadrilogy. The note on the author at the end says he is working on number four of this series - the "final volume of The Auralia Thread".

In book one the city-state of Abascar is destroyed in an earthquake, leaving its people without a home. As the story continues, Cal-Raven hopes to lead his people to the Promised Land - a new home in what they will call New Abascar. In the mean time, the kingdom of Bel Amica invites the refugees to join them and find a place in Bel Amica. Some people are glad for a new home and a chance for prosperity, even though it is unlike what they had before. Bel Amica is prosperous and the merchants offer jobs, entertainment, and mood-altering or appearance-enhancing potions and creams. Is Bel Amica all that it seems or is something sinister afoot in this modern, well-off city?
King Cal-Raven urges his people to be ready to leave when it is time. Will they still follow him?
What has happened to Auralia and the beautiful colors she showed Cal-Raven and his people? Is there more to life or should they eat, drink, and be merry?
The author is associated with a Christian college and a Christian publisher, but this book is certainly not evangelistic or theologically weighty. The beauty that Auralia offers is more of a look-for-God-in-nature transcendentalist religion/philosophy. There are obvious comparisons between the beauty and splendor that was Rome and Bel Amica. Are the Abascar people like the Israelites wandering in the desert? One can look for Biblical parallels or this book can be enjoyed as pure fantasy.


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This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. This is available for purchase at http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/ and many other locations.

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale
Step into Reading, Reading with Help, Step 2
(Preschool - Grade 1)
adapted by Christy Webster
based on the original screenplay by Elise Allen
illustrated by Ulkutay Design Group and Pat Kakula
children's fiction
ages 4-7

This 32 page adaptation from a direct to video Barbie film uses large, easy to read fonts, and colorful cartooning. Surfer girl, Merliah, goes on a big adventure under the sea with her trusty sidekick, the dolphin, Zuma.
The good news for feminists is that Merliah is not consumed with fashion, but having adventures and rescuing the ocean from certain doom.
For some reason the back cover says "What this book is about.. Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (tm) Marisa is a mermaid princess. Can she save the ocean from her evil sister?"
The main character is Merliah, not Marisa, so the cover got that wrong.
The evil mermaid is her aunt, not her sister, so the cover got that wrong, too.
Reading thirty two pages was too much to ask of the cover editor?

Boy Who Drew Cats

Boy Who Drew Cats
by David Johnson
narrated by William Hurt
music by Mark Isham
Rabbit Ears Radio Children's Classics from around the World
Cassette plus poster with all the words from the story on the back so patrons can read along.
Children's folk tale.

There is a frail boy who loves to draw cats. His family is poor and he is sent out to be an apprentice. He does try to pay attention to one master after another, but keeps failing due to his obsession with cats. What will become of the little boy? The poster and illustrations are lovely in the Japanese tradition and the story is based on a legend about a famous artist. When the cassette breaks and the library has to discard it, I wouldn't mind inheriting this poster of a boy drawing cats. Since my library has owned it since 1991 there is probably not much more life left in this audiobook.

I listened to this with a 5 and a 6 year old. It was too long for them to stay interested through the whole story (29:20 minutes long), but I enjoyed it. The music and the narration were well timed and side two of the tape had pleasant music without the narration. Some of the story was rather gruesome for a 5 year old. I am guessing that this would be a good story for ages 8 or 9 and up. One reason is that it 4 nice pictures on the poster, but it isn't really a book + cassette like some of the other kits that our library owns. If I had it to do over again I would check out the book with the cassette and the poster, since, presumably, the book would have more pictures.

Dragon's Lair

Dragon's Lair
by
Elizabeth Haydon and Jason Chan.
Fantasy Fiction, ages 8 to adult.
Elizabeth Haydon is the finest author that I am currently reading that no one else seems to know about! Why isn't she as popular as Harry Potter? She is an excellent writer! Where are the Ven Polypheme movies? Where is my Ven Polypheme scarf? My Ven Polypheme trading cards?
The Dragon's Lair has my favorite type of plot: a cast of dissimilar characters set out on a valiant quest (in the spirit of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion). In this case, there is an elf, a dwarf, a priestess, and some more characters lead by the brave young dwarf, Ven Polypheme, whom the author calls a Nain, but others would call a dwarf.
Her books are about as good as it gets in books.
Here are aspects I liked about this book (not the plot, but things I like to see in a book).
* Simple line drawings when they would help the story.
* Interesting and readable font choice.
* Readers' AND teachers' guides in the back.
* Prologue and epilogue providing setting.
* Entertaining fake author biography.
* Preview of book 4 in the series.

The series so far:
Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme
1. Floating Island
2. Thief Queen's Daughter
3. Dragon's Lair
4. Tree of Water

I think "Dragon's Lair" is kind of a boring title and it reminds me of Dirk the Daring's video game circa 1983. I'll blame the publisher, not the writer. She probably had a better title that was vetoed by someone in marketing.
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0042327/

In the Night Kitchen

In the Night Kitchen
by
Maurice Sendak
ages 3-5
Caldecott Honor Book

This must be the one that certain parents protested over the naked body of the boy. This is a silly book in which a boy named Mickey imagines a lovely land of cake dough and milk. The bakers all look alike and resemble W. C. Fields or Oliver Hardy - jovial men. Maurice Sendak said he considered this book and another to be a trilogy that started with "Where the Wild Things Are". Sometimes this book and "Wild Things" are published together in one binding.