Stories about a clever man who lived by his wits as his pockets were always empty.

Cry Wolf! Haste makes waste! Sour grapes! These familiar expressions come from stories that have been told around the world for more than two thousand years. Their reputed author Aesop lived in the 6th century BC, and is said by the Greek historian Herodotus to have been a slave on the island of Samos. Legend has it that Aesop was an ugly, deformed little man whose audience laughed at his appearance but also at his brilliant story-telling. Using mostly animals as characters, especially the fox, the wolf and the lion, each of Aesop's fables demonstrates a moral. The tales stress the value of plain common sense: how to save one's own skin; things are not always as they seem; please all, please none. In this magical presentation Barry Castle's stunning paintings, with their unique other-wordly quality, combine with Naomi Lewis' lyrical retelling of Aesop to create an exciting new version of these classic stories.

Long ago unicorns lived in a haven of sun-dappled glades and flower-filled dells. But as civilization spread over the ages -- with its fierce knights, its chugging trains, its thick smogs -- unicorns had to find a new sanctuary. But where? Jane Yolen finds a magical answer in the traditional unicorn myth. Her rhythmic, rhymed text is irresistible to read aloud. And Ruth Sanderson's brilliant artwork gives unicorns a bold reality in everything from ancient cave paintings to their secret, present-day home. After reading this tribute to the mystical, mysterious unicorn, children will enjoy looking for these elusive creatures in the world around them.

The author and the illustrator of THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH--together again! This is the story of a really rotten Ogre who is extraordinarily large, exceedingly ugly, unusually angry, constantly hungry, and absolutely merciless. He terrorizes the entire countryside and all the surrounding towns, wreaking havoc, sowing confusion, and dining happily on the hapless citizens. Nothing can stop him. But then he takes a wrong turn and encounters a kind and friendly young lady who does her best to help him--with a surprising result.

Neither Anne nor Emily remembered choosing the book at the library, but when as they read it, the boundary between their world and the one described in the book disappears. Suddenly they are in Sherwood Forest, where they join Robin Hood's band. The further adventures that await Anne, Emily, and their brother, Will, are the kind they had always dreamed about. They had yearned for magic as strong as the spell cast by the stories they loved best. But then an uninvited guest turns up at their parents' garden party. The sinister man snatches the book with the intention of using its powers for evil, and the siblings find themselves engaged in a battle to regain possession of the book. Richly detailed black-and-white drawings enliven this intriguing literary fantasy, which pays homage to some of the heroes of the author's childhood, among them E. Nesbit, Edward Eager, and Leo Tolstoy.

Book by Greenburg, Dan