The spirit of good luck outwits the spirit of bad luck and helps a poor but honest peasant lad marry the king's daughter.

Largely ignored by her own family, Princess Djeow Seow spends her days playing with a kite made from paper and sticks. But when the Emperor is imprisoned in a high tower, only the Princess can save the day, flying her kite high up into the sky to rescue her father.?A familiar jewel polished to unaccustomed brilliance.? ? Booklist ?It is rare to find a book where the beauty of the language and image are so finely meshed as in this tale of loyalty and love.? ? United Press International Jane Yolen lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts and Scotland. Ed Young lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

After a day spent slaying ogres and swimming like mermaids, the average young adventurer is a bit peckish. The delightful fairy tales in this collection are coupled with nutritious and satisfying dinners and side dishes. Jacks Magic Party Beans will not produce an enormous bean stalk, but the dish is undeniably magical in taste. Other stories include the Turkish tale Hodja Borrows a Pot and the Russian classic The Great Turnip. Fascinating facts about each storys origins and the history of the dishes will fill the mind with wonder and the tummy with delightful nourishment.

"Since Dracula first appeared, vampires have become the ghoul of choice for many horror fans. Today, vampires can be anyone, [and] in this collection of [13] chilling, funny, and sensitive stories the undead include even the girl next door. Any reader with the slightest thirst for blood won't go away hungry." —BL. 1992 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA) 1992 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)

"A saying: It pays to have a little chutzpah (nerve)." With old world charm, universal humor, and just a bit of chutzpah, Simms Taback offers this lively spin on thirteen playful tales?as only he could. Paired with his trademark vibrant and hilarious artwork, these stories illustrate ultimate widespread truths and important life lessons, from the difference between a "shlemiel" and a "shlimazel" to the idea that just because you can talk doesn?t mean you make sense. Taback delivers the perfect combination of wisdom and humor?just the way your "zayda" (grandpa) would.

Cara is so ugly, mirrors would rather break than show her reflection. Not even her own parents can deny her ugliness, and nothing can make up for the cruelty of her schoolmates. Tormented and tortured by the shallow people of Flock’s Rest, Cara’s life is miserable. Then Cara receives a shimmering note from some exotic place suggesting that there’s more to her than meets the eye. Cara wonders if her destiny has something to do with her recurring dreams of a beautiful green valley where the people are so accepting, her ugliness doesn’t matter. Soon, Cara discovers that her valley of dreams is real. It’s a place where the ugliest of ducklings can become swans. A swan, however, can have a serious taste for revenge . . . deadly revenge.

A young girl triumphs over the Queen of Faeries to reclaim her ancestral home and free her true love in this haunting retelling of an old Scottish ballad. "Mikolaycak's illustrations...attract attention yet do not overpower the story, making the book one that could be easily used as a picture story book presentation for middle- and upper-grade or even adult audiences."-The Horn Book

A collection of 8 stories by fantasy authors based on the legend of Robin Hood, from an account of Robin's birth to the story behind an early meeting of young Robin and Marian, to a modern-day fable of Robin Hood and the Internet.

A rock 'n' roll band to die for.... When fourteen year old Callie McCallan scores a backstage pass to interview the lead singer of the famous band Brass Rat, she's thrilled. Peter Gringras is so cool. When he plays his flute, it's as if he has some kind of hypnotic power. But there is something strange about him, something Callie can't quite put her finger on. Then, on Halloween night, Callie's little brother Nicky disappears, along with all the other children in town. It's crazy, but Callie thinks she knows where the children have gone--and who took them. To prove it, and to rescue Nicky and the other children, Callie must journey to a mythical world filled with fantastical creatures. A world from which there may be no return....

King Long Shanks hires two tailors to sew him a special outfit, his subjects just might get to see more than just his royal legs! A froggy adaptation puts a hilarious spin on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes."

Features the Nebula Award-winning novella "Lost Girls." In these modern myths and tales for the young and the young at hear, Jane Yolen transforms the impossible into the familiar and real. Among the outlandish wonders are an Alice grown tough in Wonderland, a dear--but dead--mother's homecoming, a bridge that longs for a goat-eating troll, and a mutiny among Peter Pan's troops.

Welcome to Scotland, where magic runs through the land like the stripes in the colorful Scottish tartans. Everyone and everything here, it seems, has some wizardry--old folks at rest homes, dusty old card games, even cowardly dogs. The only ones without magic are American twins Jennifer and Peter, and they're the ones who need it most.

An unforgettable take on a favorite fairy tale by multi-award-winning author Jane Yolen Summer's life in the mountains of West Virginia feels like a fairy tale--her parents dote on her, and she's about to get a new baby brother. But when the baby dies soon after he's born, taking their mother with him, Summer's life turns grim. Things get even worse when her father marries a woman who brings poisons and magical mirrors into Summer's world. Stepmama puts up a pretty face and Summer's father is under her spell, but Summer suspects she's up to no good--and is afraid she is powerless to stop her.

Donkey, Dog, Cat and Rooster are on their way to become musicians in the town of Bremen. But the road is long and the animals become tired and hungry. A large house in the woods would be the perfect place to rest, if only it weren't filled with nasty-looking robbers. So the four friends cook up a plan to scare those frightful villains away, and the antics that follow are sheer delight. Full color.

Ivo the orphan, together with the Hag of Dribble, Ulf the Troll, and Brian the Wizard, sets out to save Princess Mirella from the dreaded Ogre of Oglefort. But when the rescuers arrive at the castle, they are shocked to find that the princess doesn't want to be saved; she wants the ogre to turn her into a bird so she can escape an arranged marriage. And the Ogre isn't nearly the fearsome creature he once was--in fact, he's rather depressed. Now the rescuers have a new goal: save Princess Mirella from her tyrannical royal family and help restore the Ogre and his castle to the fearsome (but fun) paradise it used to be.

One of England's most beloved writers for children--and winner of the Carnegie Medal, the Regina Medal, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award--retells one of the best-loved fairy tales of all time.

Maze Runner meets The Sixth Sense in this high-stakes survival story from New York Times bestseller Andrew Klavan. What should have been an ordinary morning is about to spiral into a day of unrelenting terror. As a reporter for his high school newspaper, Tom is always on the lookout for an offbeat story. But from the moment he woke up this morning, his own life has been more bizarre than any headline could ever tell. The streets of his town are suddenly empty and silent. A strange fog has drifted in from the sea and hangs over everything. And something is moving in that fog. Something evil. Something hungry. Closing in on Tom. Tom's terrified girlfriend Marie says the answers lie at the Santa Maria Monastery, a haunted ruin standing amidst a forest blackened by wildfire. But can he trust her? A voice that seems to be coming from beyond the grave is warning him that nothing is what it seems. Only one thing is certain: with his world collapsing around him, Tom has only a few hours to recover the life he knew--before he, too, is lost forever in this nightmare city. "Klavan retains his James Patterson--like gift for keeping pages turning, and the mystery behind it all--having to do with Tom's school-newspaper exposé on the performance-enhancing drug use of the football team--is a juicy one, and well handled." --Booklist | "Klavan's background in thrillers comes to the forefront, and the mysterious clues lead to elegant, intense chase sequences and a well-crafted mystery." --Publishers Weekly | "Klavan again hits readers with a story filled with such vivid imagery that one might find themselves looking over their shoulder to make sure they aren't the one being followed. The story--set partly in reality and partly somewhere else--grabs the reader from the first page and makes one wonder what could possibly happen next. The writing is stellar." --RT Book Reviews

Six fairy tales: The Moon Ribbon, The Honey-Stick Boy, Rosechild, Sans Soleil, Somewhen, and Pale Mona.

Let yourself be drawn into the magical world of the dance with this sumptuous anthology. Love, laughter, betrayal, adventure and tragedy intertwine to create stories that will reach deep into the heart and dreams of the reader. The story of The Sleeping Beauty will whisk you away to the thorny castle where Princess Aurora awaits her prince; the comedy and confusion of Copplia will delight you, and the magical adventures of Clara in The Nutcracker will entrance you.

Assists investors and economic planners in identifying opportunities for agroindustrial investment and in designing related projects and policies. Agroindustry accounts for the majority of manufacturing activity in the developing world and represents an important first step on the path to industrialization. Many developing country governments have restricted their investment in agroindustrial and other development projects because of high debt levels and restrictions on credit. This trend has made private-sector investment crucial. Yet relatively little has been written to assist investors and economic planners in identifying opportunities for agroindustrial investment or in designing effective projects and policies. This book is an operating manual for who design or manage commercial agroindustrial enterprises. The study addresses three fundamental concerns: * The practical steps that must be taken to identify, analyze, and select components of an enterprise, such as marketing, processing, and raw material supply * Methods for assessing the financial viability of the enterprise * The management, administrative, and planning activities involved in establishing a successful enterprise, taking national development objectives and policies into account. The first part of the study examines the basic characteristics of an agroindustrial enterprise and presents analytical techniques both for investing in such enterprises and for managing them. The second part of the study profiles seven major agroindustrial commodities: rice, oilseeds, animal feeds, fruits and vegetables, sugar, ethanol from sugarcane, and coffee. The profiles trace each commodity from raw material through processing and review the structure of the market for each. This is a handy and reliable reference for agroindustry analysts, investors, and managers and will also be useful to teachers, policymakers, and staff members of development banks and other credit institutions.