And Some That Came Later

The Sorcerer’s Scrapbook, by Michael Berenstain. Michael is the son of the creators of the Berenstain Bears, and an artist in his own right. I remember Fleming giving me a cutting of an illustration from this book reproduced in a review from The New York Review of Books in 1981. I found this copy years later, at old Half’s store I think, and when I saw the rest I was enchanted. A sorcerer’s life story, with dragons, unicorns, spirits, and woses, this was just my cup of tea, and many of the illustrations are quite beautiful. Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Children’s Book. Hardback.

The Troll Book, by Michael Berenstain. A beautiful children’s book, delicately tinted, and full of lore. I believe this came out in the wake of the popularity of “Gnomes”. A take on the gnarled lifestyle of trolls, with suggestions that they may not be as nasty as they seem. A used library book; not sure where I bought it, but possibly from a library or garage sale. Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Children’s Book. Hardback.

Saint George and the Dragon, Retold (from Spenser’s The Faerie Queene) by Margaret Hodges and Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. I saw a review of this in Mr. Fleming’s class in one of his New York Review of books and was intrigued. Years later I bought this copy at a garage sale. It’s pretty good, I suppose, but I’ve never been able to actually read it, and its illustrations are in a water-color style that doesn’t appeal to me greatly. It’s the subject matter that drew me. Ranking: Dispensable. File Code: Children’s Book. Softcover.