“Rawwwwk! Reader!” screams an orange bird. “Booook open!” groans a frog. Then the sky lifts away and the enormous face of a child peers down into Sylvie’s storybook world. At last, a reader again! Sylvie has been a twelve-year-old princess for more than eighty years, ever since the book she lives in was first printed. She’s the heroine, and her story is exciting — but it’s always exciting in the same way. That’s the trouble. Sylvie has a restless urge to explore, to accomplish a Great Good Thing beyond the margins of her book. This time, when the new face appears, Sylvie breaks the rule of all storybook characters: Never look at the Reader. Worse, she gets to know the reader, a shy young girl named Claire, and when Claire falls asleep with the book open, Sylvie enters her dreams. After a fire threatens her kingdom, Sylvie rescues the other characters, taking them across the sea in an invisible fish that rolls up like a window shade when it’s out of water. For years they all live, royalty and rogues, in Claire’s subconscious — a surprising and sometimes perilous place. In this new land, Sylvie achieves many Good Things, but the Greatest, like this dazzling book, goes far and deep, beyond even her imaginings.
Fantasy
Fantasy genre
Mañana Iguana
Iguana, Conejo, Tortuga, and Culebra are excited about having a spring party, but only Iguana is willing to do any of the work. Includes a glossary of Spanish words used.
Sleep Tight, Anna Banana!
Anna Banana can’t settle down tonight, even though her stuffed animal friends are tired and just want to sleep. They suffer through delay after delay and excuse after excuse, until Anna Banana is finally sleepy. And then, it’s time for their revenge! Her stuffed animals decide to teach her a lesson about respecting others at bedtime.
The Race
Get ready, get set, GO! A group of caribou gather together to run a race. Starting at the beginning of the course, readers join in the fun as the caribou engage in some rather outlandish tricks in order to be the first to cross the finish line. (Banana skins, for example, are an effective way to get rid of some opponents.) But in the midst of this titanic struggle for victory, some of the caribou stop to question the merits of their single-minded pursuit of winning at all costs. In the end, the reader is left to decide who the real winner is in this cautionary tale about the ups and downs of winning and losing. Illustrations are cut-paper collage.
The Girl of the Wish Garden
This beautifully written story, loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “Thumbelina,” was created in response to the gorgeous award-winning art of Nasrin Khosravi. Author Uma Krishnaswami’s sensitive and poetic tale opens when Lina, a tiny girl no bigger than a thumb, is found in a flower by her mother. Because she is so tiny, adventure and mishap easily befall her — a giant frog leaves her stranded on a lily pad, she is freed by curious fish, then pestered by crazy bugs. Lina lives by herself in the depths of a forest until the cold of winter approaches and she begins to feel lonely. She encounters a mouse, who is happy to have someone to dust and sweep for him, but one day in the back room of his house Lina comes across the body of a swallow. The mouse is convinced the bird is dead but Lina, thinking she sees a wing tremble, brings it food and water. Amazingly, the swallow revives and the two of them fly together to the garden of wishes.
How To Hide A Lion
Iris understands that grown-ups are afraid of lions, but when she finds one in her playhouse she knows he is kind so she keeps him hidden from her parents for as long as possible.
The Tomtes of Hilltop Farm
Jamie and Emily try to clean up Hilltop stream with help from their little Tomte friends. Tomtes are small creatures, who only children can see. They live in ancient woods and like to help people and animals. Hilltop Farm has not been thriving: crops are failing, the animals are badly behaved and Bella the cow is ill. Poor Farmer Robinson puts the farm up for sale. But Emily and Jamie are determined to save the farm, so they ask their friends the Tomtes for help. Together, the Tomtes and the children look after Bella, milk the goats and plant seeds. They pick wild berries, collect eggs and make cheese. Can they persuade Farmer Robinson not to sell the farm? This is the second book about the helpful Tomtes who live in Hilltop Wood.
Dragonquest
A noble Dragon Fighter sets out on an expedition to fight the last dragon, inviting the reader along for the journey. Through shifting sands and tangled forests and past the whispering abyss, many awful perils are braved — witches, trolls, werewolves, ghost owls, scorpions, and vultures — but where is the dragon? Whether or not the reader is observant enough to read the subtle clues in the landscape and shadows, the final revelation of the elusive dragon’s whereabouts is sure to produce giggles and gasps of delight.
A Fish Named Glub
In a rundown diner, in an unnamed city, an ordinary fish asks itself the big questions in life. Glub finds the answers he’s looking for by listening to the lively characters of the greasy spoon beyond his fishbowl. And it’s through Glub that they, the lonely Foster included, uncover the answers to questions they had long forgotten.
Escape From The Zoo!
All the animals escape from the zoo, and it seems there is nothing the old zookeeper can do to bring them back. Then he wakes up. Thank goodness, it was only a dream! Or was it?…