Familiar Favorites Revisited

Familiar characters and stories return in new editions. Well suited to a 3-D adventure, The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig: Pop-up Edition by Eugene Trivizas, illus. by Helen Oxenbury, appears in a pop-up version of the 1993 tale, which, according to PW, is "among the wittiest fractured fairy tales around." With the pull of a tab and the turn of a wheel, readers can watch the wolves play tennis and construct their abodes, and the pig huff and puff and, when those fail, use a sledgehammer and jackhammer. (Egmont [Trafalgar Sq., dist.], $24.95 16p ages ISBN 1-4052-0669-1; Sept.)

Neil Gaiman's wry The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, illus. by Dave McKean, returns in a new edition that includes Gaiman's narration on an included CD, as well as new cover art and an afterword by the author. PW said this tale of a boy who trades away his father is "[an] energetic, eye-catching volume." (HarperCollins, $16.99 64p ages 5-up ISBN 0-06-058701-6; Sept.)

Nearly two decades after its original publication, Susan Jeffers's detailed pen-and-ink and dye illustrations once again grace Charles Perrault's Cinderella (1985), retold by Amy Ehrlich. PW called Ehrlich's retelling "absorbing [and] easily grasped," while the artwork "shows Jeffers's gifts at their dazzling best." (Dutton, $16.99 40p ages 4-up ISBN 0-525-47345-9; Nov.)

The family that taught a generation to read returns with a trio of books, originally published as New Basic Readers, in one paper-over-board volume: The World of Dick and Jane and Friends. "Guess Who," "The New We Come and Go" and "The New We Look and See" each contain dozens of the familiar short stories, paired with their original cherubic 1950s illustrations. Dick and Jane: Fun Wherever We Are features material from "Now We Read" and "The New Guess Who" (both 1965). (Grosset, $10.99 192p ages 4-6 ISBN 0-448-43646-9; Fun $7.99 144p ISBN 0-448-43614-0; Sept.)

Rose Impey's Creepies series appears in miniature paper-over-board editions, illus. by Moira Kemp. In Jumble Joan, the narrator tries to scare his young sister—until she turns the tables. A night of camping out grows frightful for a pair of cousins trading stories in Scare Yourself to Sleep. A boy plays scary games with his imagination in The Flat Man—who is also one of many monsters to potentially scare a girl in The Ankle Grabber. (Gingham Dog, $4.95 each 44p ages 8-12 Jumble ISBN 0-7696-3365-X; Scare 0-7696-3366-8; Flat 0-7696-3368-4; Ankle 0-7696-3367-6; Sept.)

Once Upon a Time...

Favorite fairy tales and songs are featured in new picture books. Science, history and fairy tale unite in Humphrey, Albert, and the Flying Machine by Kathryn Lasky, illus. by John Manders. In this witty riff on "Sleeping Beauty," siblings Humphrey and Albert are reluctant guests at Princess Briar Rose's birthday party. "The boys' prophecy had come true: This was indeed the world's most boring party.... The princess had been cursed, and the entire court had fallen into a deep sleep." But along with inventor Daniel Bernoulli, the brothers save the day. (Harcourt, $16 40p ages 5-8 ISBN 0-15-216235-6; Sept.)

John Alfred Rowe (Monkey Trouble) takes his accomplished paintbrush to Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes. The rosy cheeked, rotund potentate is attended to by an elite troupe of mime-ish monkeys, their noses as high as their yellow bowties; the hucksters are depicted as roguish foxes with a pirate-like patch and swagger. (Penguin/Minedition, $15.99 36p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-698-40000-3; Sept.)

The larger-than-life adventures (relatively speaking) of Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina unfold in Brad Sneed's illustrations. Tiny Thumbelina endures abductions by frogs, a beetle, a mouse and a mole before finding her soul mate. Sneed's animals are often grotesque (as befits their personalities) yet emotionally expressive, though the human characters come across less so. (Dial, $16.99 40p ages 4-up ISBN 0-8037-2812-3; Sept.)

A boy's daydreams take him Home on the Range in Brian Ajhar's (The Giggle Treatment) imaginative interpretation of the song lyrics. Clad in blue footie pajamas, the young hero rides his rocking horse and watches the antelope play—as clouds over the New York City skyline outside his window. But when night comes, he is transported out West to herd steers "where the skies are not cloudy all day." Ajhar's acrylic and pencil illustrations aptly convey both the boy's infatuation with the plains and his trepidation when he finds himself en route. (Dial, $15.99 32p ages 4-up ISBN 0-8037-2918-9; Sept.)

Just the Facts

World history and its major players feature in fall nonfiction titles. Joyce Hansen details the lives of a half-dozen prominent women in African Princess: The Amazing Lives of Africa's Royal Women, illus. by Laurie McGraw: the Egyptian Hatshepsut and the modern Elizabeth of Toro, among others. Hansen investigates these women's struggles—invading Portuguese forces in the 15th century, in the case of Njinga of Matamba, and the 19th-century ascent of Tata Ajaché of Dahomey, from slave and warrior to queen. McGraw contributes full-page stately portraits of each woman, and the text brims with photos of artifacts plus period drawings. (Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, $16.99 48p ages 8-up ISBN 0-7868-5116-3; Sept.)

Readers can explore American history and traditions in O, Say Can You See? America's Symbols, Landmarks, and Inspiring Words by Sheila Keenan, illus. by Ann Boyajian. With one to two spreads for each monument or symbol, the volume covers such historical cornerstones as the White House, Uncle Sam, the Great Seal and the National Anthem. Boyajian's brightly smudged pastel and pencil renderings complement Keenan's accessible text: "The Liberty Bell kept tolling. Finally, it cracked. No one is sure exactly when." (Scholastic Nonfiction, $16.95 64p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-439-42450-X; Sept.)

Our Fifty States by Mark H. Bockenhauer and Stephen F. Cunha takes readers on a tour of America, state by state. Beginning with an introduction by Jimmy Carter, the book (organized by region) covers each state's history, economic strengths and other noteworthy facts. Maps with clearly labeled cities and rivers accompany brief timelines illustrated with photos and drawings, plus sidebars with state stats (capital, area, population, industries, state bird and flower, "Did you know?" trivia sections and more). (National Geographic, $24.95 240p ages 10-up ISBN 0-7922-6402-9; Oct.)

Newly updated, The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia follows a chronology of civilizations around the globe from "The Ancient World" (including Egypt, Crete, the Shang Dynasty and Babylon) to the present, and show the development of peoples who were often completely separate, culturally and geographically. High-quality photographs depict subjects as diverse as China's Great Wall and Mayan stone carvings from the Yucatán Peninsula; these, along with maps and illustrations complement the meaty text. (Houghton/Kingfisher, $24.95 480p ages 8-14 ISBN 0-7534-5784-9; Sept.)

The latest revised, updated edition of The Kingfisher Children's Encyclopedia offers readers a broad overview of the world and its countries, cultures, technologies, religions and more. Photos and illustrations add visual appeal, while factoids make the volume ripe for browsing to cull diverse trivia. Despite the text's alphabetical organization, many subject headings can be hard to pinpoint (such as "Materials" and "Tiger and other big cats"); the comprehensive index offers a more efficient way of locating sought topics. (Houghton/Kingfisher, $24.95 480p ages 8-14 ISBN 0-7534-5767-9; Oct.)

Teen Reading

A second installment of short stories, poems, artwork, essays and plays, Rush Hour: Bad Boys, edited by Michael Cart, offers 17 works about outsiders and the diverse roles they play. Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan contribute "Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop," excerpted from their book of the same name (reviewed Oct. 25), cleverly paired with a b&w reproduction of Warhol's own Self-Portrait (Green) 1986; while Julia Jarcho's "Nursery" muses on what causes teens to kill. Other contributions include Robert Lipsyte's essay "Surviving the Jock Culture" and an excerpt from Jacqueline Woodson's as-yet-unpublished novel Grail, NY. (Delacorte, $9.95 paper 224p ages 14-up ISBN 0-385-73033-0; Sept.)

Gothic!: Ten Original Dark Tales, edited by Deborah Noyes, mines the macabre with new tales by celebrated authors that include Joan Aiken, Neil Gaiman and Garth Nix. In Vivian Vande Velde's "Morgan Roehmar's Boys," a haunted hayride is the apropos setting for the ghosts of the title murderer's victims and revenge and in "The Prank" by Gregory Maguire, a wayward teen discovers a horrific family secret. (Candlewick, $15.99 256p ages 14-up ISBN 0-7636-2243-5; Sept.)

Adept Concepts

New picture books illustrate educational concepts and engaging story lines. Animals big and small join in for a game of hide-and-seek in Where Is Bear? by Lesléa Newman, illus. by Valeri Gorbachev. As Bunny counts down, her friends scurry off. Bunny easily finds even the tiniest insects ("Ant and Beetle slip below/ the big black shiny wing of Crow") but it takes the whole group's efforts to find Bear. (Harcourt/Gulliver, $16 44p ages 2-5 ISBN 0-15-204936-3; Sept.)

Campbell Kids Alphabet Soup: An ABC Book ladels out early 20th-century advertising illustrations. The rosy-cheeked youngsters appear alongside letter-appropriate objects and apparel, accompanied by rhymed stanzas: "H begins house and a harp that we play,/ I goes with ice-skating,/ Jumprope with J." The elegantly-packaged primer should resonate most with those who grew up with these pug-nosed kids. (Abrams, $10.95 48p ages 3-6 ISBN 0-8109-5041-3; Sept.)

An abecedarian tribute to the historical city, D Is for Drums: A Colonial Williamsburg ABC by Kay Chorao brims with period-influenced artwork and historically appropriate vocabulary (starting with "A is for Apothecary shop"). In the corner of each spread, children bend their bodies to form each letter; the overall effect is one of finding a cherished primer from a bygone era. A glossary provides an explanation of each term in this attractive volume, published in association with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. (Abrams, $16.95 32p ages 3-6 ISBN 0-8109-4927-X; Sept.)