Pyxx

A genuinely childlike spirit pervades this tale, which may be taken as myth or metaphor. Long ago children clambered through a tangled hill: among them were Animal Growlers (who could make sort of ferocious noises) and Moonlight Prowlers (who didn't seem to need much sleep at night). The most special child was Pyxx, who could sit on clouds. But then two adults come to the tangled hill, build a house and hang a sign that says they would like to tame children. The children, persuaded by promises of good food, warm beds and loving surroundings, surrender their wild ways--all but Pyxx, who remains in the clouds making sure that no child ever becomes too tame. Never sentimental, the story has a pleasant, rolling rhythm that adds to its fable-like qualities. Is it a story about the imaginative world of children, and their return to a concrete universe with their parents, or is it meant to be a new fairy tale? It doesn't matter. Striking illustrations, energetic and eerie, depict the action in a story of a time when children and animals lived as one in the wild. Ages 4-7. (July)