I'll never forget the childhood summer I indulged myself by reading through Andrew Lang's entire rainbow of fairy tale books. (They're still in print in paperback from Dover at $6.95; in hardcover from Peter Smith at $18.75) Fantasy allows children to enter a new world and ignite an internal universe of imagination.
Kay Chorao illustrates eight rhymes for young listeners in Mother Goose Magic (Dutton, $15.99; ages 0-5) transporting young listeners from the rollicking, sunlit brightness of "Dicory, Dicory, Dare" to the quieter, blue-toned calm of "Nanny Button Cap".
Hugo is a small boy who's hospital-bound and bored in Margaret Wild's Going Home (Scholastic, $14.95; ages 4-8). While the other children play cards and watch T.V., the noises of a nearby zoo fuel Hugo's imagination and he travels on extraordinary adventures through rain forests and high mountains. Bright, bold illustrations add cheer, especially for a child spending time in the hospital.
Jerdine Nolen's Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm (Lothrop, $15.00; ages 5-9) is told by a young girl who admires and wonders about the farmer who can bring forth balloons on stalks. One night she watches him dancing, whooping, and floating in the air with the aid of his glowing conjure stick. Harvey Potter builds her a balloon basket so she can leave for faraway places and begin her own balloon crop.
Folk and fairy tales are often a way to dream about other places while bringing them closer to home. Patricia Roddy, who spent four years teaching in West Africa, brings back a legend she heard in the village of Becedi Brignan. Api and the Boy Stranger (Dial, $14.99; ages 4-9) tells of a strange, thin boy who appears on feast days and is shunned by all but Api's family. Finally the silent boy tells the kind family that they must leave before the next festival. They leave the village with sorrow, hearing the sounds of joyous celebration preparation. Suddenly sounds are exaggerated as the village is buried beneath the lava of a volcano. The chorusing of sounds are fun to repeat as they bring far away Ivory Coast storytelling to American shores.
Now there are paperback fairy tales for beginning novel readers. Virginia Haviland retells Favorite Fairy Tales Told in France, Favorite Fairy Tales Told in England, and Favorite Fairy Tales Told in Germany (all from Beech Tree Books, $4.95; 8 and up).
Summer might be a time to begin a casual course in comparative literature with fairy tales. A good place to begin is with the hundreds of versions of Cinderella that have been collected from around the world. One of the strongest retelling voices in America, Robert San Souci, recounts Sootface: An Ojibwa Cinderella Story (Doubleday, $14.95; ages 5-9). Mistreated by her sisters, burned and singed by the cook fire, Sootface dreams of a better life. Dreaming gives her true vision to see and marry the invisible warrior whom every woman desires.
Ellen Jackson gives a playful look at Cinderella through Cinderella's neighbor, CinderEdna (Lothrop, $15.00; ages 5-10) Resourceful Edna doesn't believe in fairy godmothers. When she wants to go to the ball, she earns money to put a dress on layaway, wears her comfortable loafers, and takes a bus. She marries the prince's brother Rupert who's into recycling and joke telling...and lives much more happily ever after than the bored Cinderella.
Barry Moser serves up Rumpelstiltskin southern style in Tucker Pfeffercorn (Little Brown, $15.95; ages 6-10). The heroine is sassy, strong-willed Bessie Grace Kinzalow manages to spin cotton to gold for the richest, cruelest man in town with the help of Tucker Pfeffercorn. Moser's fleshed-out plot makes more sense than the original and the tale is deepened by its characters.
In the middle of this writing, I spent two days in bed with a flu. I escaped aches and spoiled myself by gobbling down twelve fantasy novels! One of my favorites was Berte Amoss' Lost Magic (Hyperion, $14.95; ages 10-14). It's an engrossing novel which merges feudal life, magic, and the difficulties of becoming. Ceridwen is abandoned as a baby and raised by a rough, caring peasant woman. Through several reversals of fortune, she finds herself guided by a healer, loved by a king and his daughter, and finally discovers her own sense of self under death's threat. The bittersweet ending is hauntingly satisfying and the author is to be applauded for her honest honoring of times past.
For young fantasy readers, H.G. Wells' The Time Machine and Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea have been very well-adapted for readers 10 and up. For those who want a tamer fare with a sense of magic, an adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess (all from Bullseye Classics,$2.99)
Maybe this is the summer to discover C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia with your child. It's just been beautifully re-released with elegant hardcopy covers by Chris Van Allsburg and paperback covers by the Dillons. (HarperCollins, boxed set, 105.00 hardcover, $41.64 paperback)
Three beloved fantasy writers have new books for their fans. Bill Brittain's young hero has wild adventures with shape-changing aliens in Shape-Changer,(HarperCollins, $14.00; ages 10 and up), a book sure to succeed with reluctant readers.
Brian Jacques' Martin The Warrior (Philomel, $ 17.95;ages 8 to adult) holds more swashbuckling adventures, a multitude of cliff hangers, the satisfying triumph of good over evil, and finally an explanation of the history of the mouse who's the standard bearer for all of Redwall.
Newbery-medal winning author Robin McKinley writes five new short stories in A Knot in the Grain and Other Stories (Greenwillow, $14.00; ages 11 and up). All are filled with mystery, romance, and magic of character and elegant eloquence of words that has won McKinley so many fans.
Philip Pullan's newest novel, The Tin Princess (Knopf, $16.00; ages 12 and up) spins off of his adored The Ruby in the Smoke (Knopf, $3.99) and contains the same romantic adventures, and strong heroines, this time set in a fantasy kingdom in Central Europe.