Classic Gifts

Just in time for gift-giving season, the two hardcover staples for every nursery—Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown, illus. by Clement Hurd—are now available in a handsome fabric-covered shrink-wrapped cardboard sleeve as A Margaret Wise Brown Gift Set. In addition, an oversize board book edition of Goodnight Moon makes the great green room larger than ever, allowing readers to trace with ease the tiny mouse that appears in each spread. (HarperCollins, $31.95 ages 1-7 ISBN 0-06-623846-3; oversize board book HarperFestival, $12.95 0-694-01675-6; Sept.)

Based on the time-tested books by Margret and H.A. Rey, four board books featuring Curious George fit snugly inside a yellow box with two red snaps that secure the lid and a red handle for toddlers to grip. The Curious George Board Books Box Set includes Curious George and the Bunny; Curious George and the Rocket; Curious George Goes Fishing; and Curious George Rides. (Houghton, $18 ages 3mos.-4yrs. ISBN 0-618-154240-8; Sept.)

Fans of Don Freeman's work get a bang for their buck with Corduroy & Company: A Don Freeman Treasury. This hefty volume contains 1o previously published stories, including his first book, Chuggy and the Blue Caboose (1951), written with his wife, Lydia; Pet of the Met (1953), their second collaboration, drawing on Freeman's roots in the theater; and of course his solo effort, Corduroy (1968), starring the overalls-clad life-like toy bear. The 11th selection is the unfinished dummy and complete text of Gayelord, which Freeman was working on at the time of his death. A foreword by Leonard S. Marcus sheds light on Freeman's enduring contribution to children's literature. (Viking, $25 128p all ages ISBN 0-670-03510-6; Sept.)

Wegman's fans will recognize Man Ray, Chundo, Chip and his many other weimaraners in this treasury edition, Wegmanology. The volume incorporates previously published work alongside new photographs to convey basic concepts. Three canines in butcher, baker and candlestick-maker garb "rub-a-dub-dub" in a tub in the "Nursery Rhymes" section; Fay Ray gets an X-ray to demonstrate the letter "X" in the "Dog Alphabet." The pooches also pose for counting, shapes and careers. (Hyperion, $25 96p all ages ISBN 0-7868-0450-5; Sept.)

As he did with Peter Pan and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, vintage picture book collector Cooper Edens here selects an assortment of early 20th-century artwork to pay homage to Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio. Vittorio Accornero's austere illustration of the "beautiful Little Girl" who is moved to free Pinocchio, strung from a tree, Gianbattista Galizzi's painting of the Island of the Busy Bees, and Maria Kirk's portrait of the hero with donkey ears, taken together, reveal a cohesive new image of one of children's literature's most memorable characters. (Chronicle, $19.95 176p all ages ISBN 0-8118-2283-4; Aug.)

Fans of the Hundred Acre Wood can celebrate Pooh's 75th birthday with collector's editions of Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner. Both books contain A.A. Milne's complete text as well as b&w decorations by Ernest H. Shepard. Dressed up for the party, each book features a redesigned jacket plus gold and silver gilded page edges, respectively. Each is sold separately, but they can be purchased together in a sturdy slipcased set. (Dutton, $14.99 each all ages ISBN 0-525-46756-4; -46758-0; two-volume set $30 -46804-8; Sept.)

A decade ago, PW called Barbara Joosse's Mama, Do You Love Me?, illus. by Barbara Lavallee, "a striking volume which uses a timeless culture to convey a timeless message." Chronicle celebrates the book's success with a 10th anniversary commemorative edition that includes a fabric jacket and a limited edition print of mother and child. (Chronicle, $17.95 32p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-8118-3212-0; Sept.)

Lots of Interaction

Joosse's book joins another bestselling title, the text and illustrations of which inspire hours of fun as books-cum-nesting blocks. Mama, Do You Love Me? Nesting Blocks based on the book by Barbara M. Joosse, illus. by Barbara Lavallee, and Sylvia Long's Mother Goose Nesting Blocks each include 10 blocks that will capture readers and builders on all sides. For example, on the "Mother Goose" blocks, one side has a nursery rhyme, one side shows a related illustration, another a numeral and the last has two to three letters in the alphabet—once the tower is built, young children can read all 10 rhymes, the numbers in order from one to 10, and the entire alphabet, A to Z. The blocks fit neatly inside one another and store in a sturdy carrying box. (Chronicle, $19.95 each ages 6mos.-3yrs. ISBN 0-8118-3259-7; -3261-9; Sept.)

Originally published in 1981, The Honeybee and the Robber by Eric Carle now invites young hands to play a part in the proceedings. From the get-go, children place a finger in the die-cut hole on the cover, slide it back and forth and make the big brown bear go cross-eyed as he gets stung by the bee. By pulling the tabs inside, readers can watch the honeybee escape from a hungry bird and then play with a pop-up butterfly. (Philomel, $16.99 14p ages 1-4 ISBN 0-399-23731-3; July)

Youngsters can take the star of Bloomer by Mandy Stanley, attached by a red string and Velcro spots, and move the pooch into different scenes throughout this oversize board book. Each activity, whether it be breakfast or bath time, offers accessories (e.g., a bone, a sponge and a scrub brush), also attached by ribbons and Velcro, for children to remove and work with. (Scholastic/Orchard, $9.95 12p ages 3-6 ISBN 0-531-30311-X; July)

Art in a Box

Aspiring artists will find plenty of inspiration from the new Art Ed Books and Kits series by Janet Boris: Frida Kahlo; Roy Lichtenstein; Robert Rauschenberg; and Jacob Lawrence. Each oversize cardboard box kit includes a 24-page artist biography, an eight-page activity book (linked to the artist's work), and materials in the medium used by the profiled artist. For example, included in Frida Kahlo's kit are: 5 tubes of non-toxic paint, 5 oil pastels, 10 sheets of art paper, 3 paint brushes, a mixing palette, a diary booklet and a frame. (Abrams, $19.95 each ages 8-up ISBN 0-8109-6779-0; -6777-4; -6780-4; -6778-2; July)

Bittersweet Tales for Teens

Two short story collections address the emotional life of adolescents. The author of the Bunnicula books, James Howe, collects a dozen works (one of which he penned himself) in The Color of Absence: 12 Stories About Loss and Hope. Walter Dean Myers's "Season's End" covers much more than the close of baseball season; in "Shoofly Pie," Naomi Shihab Nye explores the way humor and sadness live side by side; and Jacqueline Woodson and Chris Lynch collaborate on "The Rialto," excerpted from a forthcoming novel. (S&S/Atheneum, $16 256p 12-up ISBN 0-689-82862-4; July)

Kay Allenbaugh, editor of the bestselling Chocolate series, presents Chocolate for a Teen's Heart: Unforgettable Stories for Young Women About Love, Hope, and Happiness, a companion volume to Chocolate for a Teen's Soul. Here she draws together the words of writers, psychologists, spiritual leaders and teenagers themselves in 55 original stories. (S&S/Fireside, $12 220p ages 12-up ISBN 0-7432-1380-7; July)

Literary Collections

Eight different goddesses from Egypt to North America to Nigeria take center stage in The Lady of Ten Thousand Names: Goddess Stories from Many Cultures retold by Burleigh Mutén, illus. by Helen Cann. Readers learn about saintly goddesses such as Kuan Yin, who has been worshipped for centuries in China as the "goddess of kindness, mercy and grace" as well as deities with a darker side, such as Freya, the Scandinavian goddess of love and desire, sorcery and magic, war and death. (Barefoot, $19.99 80p ages 8-up ISBN 1-84148-048-7; Aug.)

Eight more heroines representing different cultural traditions are noted in Fiesta Femenina: Celebrating Women in Mexican Folktales retold by Mary-Joan Gerson, illus. by Maya Christina Gonzalez. The famous legend of "The Virgin of Guadalupe" sits alongside the Mayan tale "Rosha and the Sun," in which a girl rescues the sun after her brother traps it, and the Aztec tale "Malintzin of the Mountain," sheds light on the controversial woman who fell for Cortés and helped him conquer her own people. Vibrant illustrations in the tradition of each culture, and attractive borders that unify each tale, bring these women to life. (Barefoot, $19.99 64p ages 8-up ISBN 1-84148-365-6; Aug.)

With plenty of knock-knock jokes, "tongue tanglers," "nifty Tom Swifties" (a 1920s joke) plus poems by the likes of Jack Prelutsky and Ogden Nash, The Big Golden Book of Laughs: A Treasury of Poems, Jokes, Riddles, and Rhymes edited by Linda Williams Aber, illus. by Jerry Smath will keep children giggling. The amusing illustrations add to the fun. For example, in grand tradition, Lewis Carroll's "Father William" balances an eel on the end of his nose and, accompanying a limerick about "a delicate girl named Louise," a humpback wearing a dainty pink hat and an apron sneezes, lifting a boat clear out of the water (she's "a whale of a gal, if you please!"). (Golden, $12.99 72p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-307-14902-1; July)

From the collaborators behind Greek Myths and Greek Gods and Goddesses, Roman Myths retold by Geraldine McCaughrean, illus. by Emma Chichester Clark, offers 15 stories including "Dreams of Destiny: Aeneas sets out to found an empire" and "Burning the Books: The Sibyl and her prophecies." Many prominent gods and goddesses (e.g, Jupiter, Venus and Diana, the goddess of hunting) and some lesser known are featured throughout. Watercolor illustrations play up the drama in each, and an icon appears as a motif that unifies each tale. (S&S/McElderry, $21 96p ages 9-up ISBN 0-689-83822-0; July)

Shakespeare's Storybook: Folk Tales That Inspired the Bard retold by Patrick Ryan, illus. by James Mayhew, lets readers in on the secret of what lies behind seven masterpieces such as Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. For example, King Lear, Ryan argues, has its roots in "Cap-O-Rushes," a tale that begins with the king "asking his daughters how much they love him" then follows the young daughter who has adventures like those of Cinderella; Ryan also mentions some influential events closer to home (Shakespeare's daughters being of a marriageable age; a wealthy Londoner whose daughters try to gain their inheritance by suspicious means). (Barefoot, $19.99 80p ages 8-up ISBN 1-84148-307-9; Sept.)

New Series

For budding balletomanes and fairytale fans, The Magic of the Ballet series brings to life The Nutcracker; Sleeping Beauty; Giselle; and Swan Lake retold by Adèle Geras, illus. by Emma Chichester Clark. A brief description of classical ballet serves as a prologue to each story, and an afterword offers further facts surrounding each ballet (when it was first performed, who choreographed it, the author of the story, etc.). Geras adds her gift for storytelling to the mix; for instance, Sleeping Beauty is narrated by Carabosse (the bad fairy who places the sleeping curse on Aurora), the Lilac Fairy (who tempers Carabosse's curse), the prince and Aurora herself. (David & Charles [Sterling, dist.], $10.95 each 32 pages 6-9 ISBN 1-86233-236-3; -246-0; -226-6; -231-2; July)

Based on the characters created by Martin Handford, Where's Waldo? Plundering Pirates and Where's Waldo? Fighting Knights by Rachel Wright are two new books in the Where's Waldo? Fun Fact Book series. Each volume brims with facts and adventures. Readers come "face to face" with "vile villains" from the Mediterranean Sea to China in Pirates, and in Knights, they learn about "wicked weapons" from the 12th-15th centuries. A foldout poster encourages even more searching. (Candlewick, $3.99 each paper 24p ages 6-up ISBN 0-7636-1300-2; -1301-0; July)