With Dove Isabeau Jane Yolen has written a beautiful, powerful and evocative story. Indeed it's based on the Old Ballad Kemp Gwyne, but the author provides her own unique twist to it. And it's perfectly matched by Dennis Nolan's lovely watercolours.

Lovely Isabeau is loathed by her jealous stepmother, who casts a spell on her. Thus Isabeau is turned into a dragon. She is saved by her love Kemp Owain. And now Kemp Owain is turned into stone. Now Isabeau undertakes action, deviating from the usual fairy tale heroine and saves her love. But with her time as dragoness, her fiery spirit has emerged, and Kemp Owain loves her all the more for it and I as their reader too! Further there's a very interesting use of symbolism here, Mr. Nolan's illustrations show this perfectly.

This story and the beautiful pictures will delight youngsters. Older children and teens might like reading, along with it, the Old English poem, "Kemp Owyne" upon which it is based. I love it myself and I'm well above the age of discression!

I found this book in college and was enchanted all the same. A lifelong fan of sci-fi and fantasy, I loved the story as well as the illustrations. I plan on holding onto this book forever - and to share it with my own children and with the children of friends and family.

Fans of the authors in this will want to scoop up this highly original collection, as well as any Arthuriana buffs. The authors include such greats as Anne McCaffrey, Terry Pratchett, Debra Doyle/James McDonald, Diana Paxson, and others.

McCaffrey's story is an excerpt of "Black Horses for the King", a YA novel about a young boy named Galwyn, whose abusive uncle is shipping enormous Libyan horses for Lord Artos. Pratchett's story is the entertaining "Once and Future" about a time traveller who creates the sword in the stone. We see the roots of Nancy Springer's bittersweet "I Am Mordred" in the story "Raven," in which young Mordred's soul is imprisoned in a raven's body. Doyle/MacDonald craft a hilarious story called "Holly and Ivy" about Lancelot having a little fun with Gawain.

The writing styles range from "kooky" ("Holly," "Once and Future") to detailed ("Black Horses") to dreamy ("Raven").

As a previous reviewer stated, the only flaw with this is the last story. Honestly, we've had enough drooling in the area of the former president, haven't we? The final story isn't really Arthurian at all.

However, the final story is the sole flaw. It is, overall, a lovely collection of highly original stories about Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot. A must-read for fantasy and Arthurian fans.

Ah, Arthurian fiction! I love it!

This is a stunning collection of short stories, often reflecting the different ideas of the various authors. There are stories about Merlin and Arthur, Guinevere... and a few that are out of the ordinary. A part of the Anne McCaffrey book "Black Horses for the King", the short story that led to "I Am Mordred," the glorious alternate view of Arthur's unfortunate son. Almost every story is accompanied with illustrations that go with the story's theme-"Black Horses" has a realistic drawing, while "Mordred" is strange and dreamy. The cover art is simply stunning--Merlin, you glorious old crank!

My only problem is the last story. Does this REALLY count as Arthurian fiction? But if you ignore the last one, this is as close to perfect as you can get!

This book is great i reccommend it to all of you. There is detail and adventure. the characters are great, and the fact that it is written by different authors is good, because people get a sense of the characters. Otherwise one author may have a different interpitation of a character or setting, now it would be easier to see what it was really like.

Everyone's read the oft-accepted story of King Arthur's boyhood, right? A seemingly orphaned fosterling is raised by kindly Sir Ector, doesn't really know who he is. This story gives a mild but enjoyable twist on the old tale.

Artos is a young orphan in Sir Ector's castle, whose only playmates are the sons of Sir Ector, who often look down on him. One day, as he chases the dog Boadie into the woods, he comes across a cave that appears to have a massive dragon inside it. Though Artos is initially afraid, he befriends the ancient dragon. The dragon, in exchange for foodstuffs from the kitchen, will teach Artos wisdom.

The teachings that the dragon give Artos unconsciously change his outlook and his treatment of other people - even those below him. But after a strange incident in which the dragon temporarily vanishes, Artos discovers the truth about his friend.

Aside from the works of Gerald Morris, I don't think I've found a more likeable version of King Arthur than Artos. The lessons that he is taught are mild but creep into the mind and take root, transforming him effectively from a "bulky, unruly, illiterate boy" to a thoughtful and compassionate soul (he isn't perfect, but who is?)

The supporting cast is sparkling, from "Garlic" Meg the kitchen maid, ancient Druid wiseman Linn, and the cheerful smith who provides Artos with his first sword. The writing style is admittedly a bit bare at times, but not so much that it is difficult to read. The dialogue and visualization of the final chapter are perhaps the best part, almost mystical.

A small note to those reading this book for the first time: Read carefully what the supporting characters say, and you might just guess ahead of time what is up with the dragon.

A magical tale without real magic, this is an enjoyable tale for lovers of a darn good story and a must-see for Arthuriana nuts!

I loved this book and it was so cool because I liked the dragon he was cool looking and his teeth are a little bit long and sharp. The book isn't scary at all and the boy meets the dragon in the begining of the book.The book is pretty cool. You should read it it's good. The three main characters are Mag, Sir Ector, and Artos. What I liked about this book was that they're is a dragon in it and a red diamond, and what I didn't like about this book was that all they did was talk about Mag, and Artos. The author is a very good writer. This book was very good you should read it.

When I first read this book I had no clue it was about King Arthur, as a young boy or otherwise, because the copy at my library didn't proclaim in bold letters "A Tale of Young King Arthur." Not until the very end did it dawn on me that this wonderful book I was reading had anything at all to do with the legendary King Arthur I had already read so much about. But this book is not about King Arthur until the very end. For the most part it is about a boy named Artos and his trials and tribulations in growing up and meeting a dragon. This dragon teaches him things he would have no chance to learn anywhere else and balances out his life in a most peculiar way.

This is one of those rare perfect books that transports you completely into its pages and guides you along a twisting, enchanted path overgrown with wonders and delights until you emerge at the end, calmly satisfied from your travels. Jane Yolen's story-telling is as lovely as ever and has little rhyming spells sprinkled throughout that make the tale seem as though you are there at its unfolding. The illustrations are truly marvelous and curl up around the text which is printed on a softly glowing golden wash. Flowering vines climb up around the borders of many of the pages. The tale has a little orphaned girl set against a wicked witch who comes looking for an enchanted treasure. Before her mother dies she gives the little girl a beautiful golden comb as a keepsake. The witch puts a spell on the child to try to force her into revealing the location of the enchanted treasure that she knows has to be somewhere nearby. The animals of the forest befriend the little girl and in the end a wonderful justice occurs. The story is so precious and has a thoughtful message to suggest. This has a lot of the ingredients that you've seen in countless other fairy tales but here they seem so freshly tender and heart-touching. Treat yourself and any little ones you know to a splendid story.

The teaming of Jane Yolen and Jane Dyer is something I truly appreciate. Yolen, the talented author of many books for children, youth, and adults, is a master story teller. Dyer has demonstrated her ability to excel in many artistic styles. As in another teaming, Child of Faerie, Child of Earth (go find this!), the work of the two seamlessly plays off each other to create a beautiful fairy tale with equally beautiful pictures. The imagery and wording in the story itself is enough to make this a story worth reading, but the illustrations add so much more. I strongly recommend this book to parents and teachers to read to and along with a child. However, be sure to give them enough time to peruse each page, as the illustrations are rich and deserve observation.

This is an unusual fairytale story with beautiful illustrations. It will take the reader and the listener to a different time and place. The descriptions are so vivid that you will imagine you can see the story unfolding.

Unicorns usually mean fluff fiction characters, and sugary cliches. Not so here! This exquisitely illustrated collection of short stories and poems is worth the hunt for it. (Also recommended is the author's other book, White Hart)

"Making of a Unicorn" is a beautiful poem in Shakespearean style, while "Unicorn Tapestry" is a haunting medieval story and romance. "Death of a Unicorn" is also beautiful, but a little hard to understand. "Infestation of Unicorns" is a slyly funny story about monks vs. unicorns. "The Lady's Garden" is a parable-like story about a beautiful, unnamed woman and three unicorns -- who end up adopting a human baby, with unexpected results. "Hunting of the Narwhal" is a catchy poem/song about finding a narwhal (a whale with a pointed horn protruding from its forehead). Then there is the uniquely-written "Boy Who Drew Unicorns," about an isolated boy who draws unicorns -- much of it is the dialogue of other people, who go unnamed and uncredited, like echoes.

"The Promise" is probably the shortest short story I've ever read. "The Hunt", a tale of the whole maiden-unicorn thing, is not much longer. "Unicorn Leaves is a pretty poem; so is "Unicorn's Pool." "De Natura Unicorni" is a grittier, harsher story that stays in the mind a lot longer -- the story of the hunt of a unicorn. "Unicorn and the Pool" (very different from the aforementioned poem) reads a bit like an old myth/legend. "Visitor's Account" is nice, though written quite differently from the other poems. "Healing Horn" is a gem among short stories, where some young kinds named after Yolen's own children find a magical unicorn's horn. Then "Rhinoceros," the content of which you can guess. Then it is "Li Po and the Unicorn," a Chinese-themed short story about the Chinese unicorn k'i-lin. And the last work of the book is "Fossils," about unicorn bones.

The illustrations by David Wilgus are beautiful as well, soft and rouned and gently shaded so that they look almost real. Everything in it is beautifully written, and will add dimensions to your thoughts on unicorns. A very beautiful collection.

Unicorns usually mean fluff fiction, idiotic characters, and sugary cliches. Not so here! This exquisitely illustrated collection of short stories and poems is worth the hunt for it. (Also recommended is the author's other book, White Hart)

"Making of a Unicorn" is a beautiful poem in Shakespearean style, while "Unicorn Tapestry" is a haunting medieval story and romance. "Death of a Unicorn" is also beautiful, but a little hard to understand. "Infestation of Unicorns" is a slyly funny story about monks vs. unicorns. "The Lady's Garden" is a parable-like story about a beautiful, unnamed woman and three unicorns -- who end up adopting a human baby. "Hunting of the Narwhal" is a catchy poem/song about finding a narwhal (a whale with a pointed horn protruding from its forehead). Then there is the uniquely-written "Boy Who Drew Unicorns," about an isolated boy who draws unicorns -- much of it is the dialogue of other people, who go unnamed and uncredited, like echoes.

"The Promise" is probably the shortest short story I've ever read. "The Hunt", a tale of the whole maiden-unicorn thing, is not much longer. "Unicorn Leaves is a pretty poem; so is "Unicorn's Pool." "De Natura Unicorni" is a grittier, harsher story that stays in the mind a lot longer -- the story of the hunt of a unicorn. "Unicorn and the Pool" (very different from the aforementioned poem) reads a bit like an old myth/legend. "Visitor's Account" is nice, though written quite differently from the other poems. "Healing Horn" is a gem among short stories, where some young kinds named after Yolen's own children find a magical unicorn's horn. Then "Rhinoceros," the content of which you can guess. Then it is "Li Po and the Unicorn," a Chinese-themed short story about the Chinese unicorn k'i-lin. And the last work of the book is "Fossils," about unicorn bones.

The illustrations by David Wilgus are beautiful as well, soft and rouned and gently shaded so that they look almost real. Everything in it is beautifully written, and will add dimensions to your thoughts on unicorns. A very beautiful collection.

I have loved literature since I was very littel and found this on the shelf. I checked it out and read it. The poems all are great from the one about fossils to the one about the birth of a unicorn. I particularly like the notes she places before each story/poem.

All the stories are good, written with Jane Yolen's great talent for words. I especialy liked the story about three children finding a unicorn horn in thier great grandmothers attic and use it to cure animals.

For all of you who like to believe in unicorns or as Jane Yolen put it "like to pretnd I do" this is a must have book!

Previous reviewers have done a good job of summarizing the plot of Hobby, so I'll just add that I think it's an excellent book for bright,precocious readers. It's not very long, the font is slightly larger, and the lines are spaced further apart than in many books for older children, so it's easy for younger ones to follow the text. The language is sophisticated, and the story is somewhat dark, so if your child is highly sensitive I'd read it first to see if it might be too much for him or her, but my six year old daughter loved this book and its precursor, Passeger. If your child is tired of Magic Tree House and Junie B., give this series a try!

The second small volume of the trilogy is, in part, about Merlin's education in the darker sides of human nature. While retaining the innocently beautiful prose and style of the previous book, Ms. Yolen manages to show Merlin growing in human wisdom.

Merlin's foster family is killed in a house fire, and as the young boy grieves for them, he is caught by Fowler, a vicious thief. The sadistic Fowler takes great enjoyment in tormenting Merlin,but the boy manages to escape him to find a wandering band of magicians, who soon discover that the boy can see into the future. As they try to harness him for their own ends, Merlin uses his magic to elude them...

The innocent wild boy of "Passager" is gone, and we get to see hints of Merlin's future power in this story. Once again Yolen evokes almost painfully clear emotions in her readers, with the beautiful prose and realistic characterizations.

The second book of a trilogy is often weak, but not so here!

This book is very short, and it would've done a lot better if it was a big book containing all three of the trilogy. This book is very like a poem in that it evokes emotion, almost on command. The use of Merlin's/Hawk's/Hobby's fear of Dogs and his dreams and his thing with names continues.

The "Mary Celeste" was a trading vessel found adrift in the 19th century. The crew was missing and there was no apparent reason found or note made in the log to explain what had occurred. To this day there is still no answer to this mystery.

This book by Jane Yolen is a terrific introduction to the mystery that is a fun read for children and adults. It is designed to be thought provoking and to encourage kids to use critical thinking. All of the different theories about the ship are presented and the reader can draw his or her own conclusions.

It is highly recommended.

What a fascinating and thought provoking story! The Mary Celeste was found abandoned over 100 years ago leaving a multitude of still unanswered questions. The story engages students and leads them to propose theories of their own. Hopefully Jane Yolen and her daughter will write many more "unsolved mysteries from history"!

As a decendant of Captian Briggs' family, I am very familiar with the details surrounding this mysterious event! Jane Yolen does a wonderful job of organizing and distilling all the information that is available and making it accessable to children (my own children thank the author, this story makes more sense to them now!). In addition, I am going to buy it for several adult members of our family. A wonderful job, terrific format, very readable... Thank you!

Excellent dragon book. Not your normal fantasy dragons flying around killing everyone. These dragons have style, personality, and make great friends. Jane Yolen has done a wonderful job and created characters that tug at your heart.

This truly is an awesome book. It gives you an interesting blend of science fiction and fantasy with a couple of practical life lessons. The characters are colorful, and you fall in love with the dragons. Read it!

If you are the person who loves dragons and hates the books where the dragons are evil and they have to die then these three books are the books for you: Dragon's Blood, Heart's Blood, and A Sending of Dragons. I could not put these books down. They are awesome!!

Jane Yolen never seems to write a bad story. Anything I've ever read by her, I've liked. This collection is no exception. With killer wit and straightforward prose, Yolen playes around with Emily Dickinson, fairy tales, and anything else that strikes her fancy.

The essential element in each of these stories is a big twist, a completely new look at something we had previously taken for granted. We assume certain things, and Yolen challenges our assumptions. What if Emily Dickinson's otherworldly poetry was just that--inspired by a joyride through outer space? What if the thirteenth fairy cursed the princess by accident; what if Snow White knew better than to let strangers into her cottage; what if Rumplestiltskin was an unjustly maligned Jewish moneylender; what if the girls in Peter Pan's hideaway got sick of playing housewife? The result is a wonderful collection of stories where you're never sure what the ending will be, but you can't wait to find out.

An added bonus--at the end she reminisces about the making of each story, the idea that got each one started. I love it when authors tell the stories behind the stories.

I have been an admirer of Jane Yolen for many years, and consider her to be perhaps the finest fantasist in America today. This collection brings together 29 of her wonderful short stories, 3 published here for the first time. Having read a number of these stories in various science fiction and fantasy magazines, I am delighted to see them all together in book form.

One of the central themes that runs throughout this collection, and indeed through much of Yolen's other work (namely 'The Books of Great Alta'), is how the art of storytelling shapes both the teller and society, and vice versa. In 'The Traveler and the Tale', for example, a storyteller from the future travels back to medieval France in order to insert the fairy tale 'Dinner in an Eggshell' into the cultural mythos. In doing this, she believes she will warn of and prevent a take over by froglike aliens in her own time. However, her very act of temporal interference produces surprising cultural - and personal - transformations. In 'Salvage' a true SF story as opposed to a fantasy tale, aliens assimilate our poetry from a human captive and use it to enrich their own; they 'digest' our concepts and poetical forms, namely haiku. In 'The Singer and the Song', a young prince finds out that the two can be entirely different things when his favorite musician joins the rebellion that leads to the prince's execution. Perhaps best of all is the title story, where Emily Dickinson is inspired to write a lifetime's worth of poetry by her meeting with an alien. Having found Dickinson's poetry to be, well, otherworldly, I found this very appropriate. I should also commend Yolen for the depth of her research into Dickinson's life and work, and indeed for giving the story the feel of one of her poems. I will definitely investigate Dickinson's poetry further thanks to Yolen. Most of the stories here are fairy tales told from a more modern, mostly feminist point of view. 'Snow in Summer' has a fiesty Appalachian heroine who finds a very simple way to a happy ending. In 'Lost Girls', which won the Nebula Award, a labor lawyer's daughter organizes the 'Wendys' of Neverland in a strike against the injustices of Peter and the other lost boys. 'The Thirteenth Fey' is a retelling of 'Sleeping Beauty' from the point of view of the fairy who curses the princess - accidentally, not maliciously. In doing so, she may free her family from virtual enslavement to the very unlikeable royals. I quite liked this family of fey, who also feature in 'Dusty Loves' and 'The Uncorking of Uncle Finn', especially their wonderful library of books from the past, present, and future, and it's a pity that Yolen hasn't written any more stories featuring them. 'A Ghost of an Affair' is a tender love story between an American jeweler and a Scottish silversmith who died 100 years before she was born. She does get a happy ending, but not the one she expected, and it takes work and time to achieve.

Yolen is also unafraid to explore the darker side of many of the original fairy tales. 'Allerleiruah' makes no secret of the incest at the heart of many seemingly innocent princess stories. In 'Granny Rumple', which is my favorite story of the whole collection, Yolen turns around the original 'Rumplestiltskin' tale (which she convinces me is an anti-Semitic allegory) quite shockingly and shows us who the true moral center of this tale is. Yet she also shows a fine sense of humor. We have here an extremely raunchy version of 'Dick Whittington and His Cat' with some great puns. In 'The Gift of the Magicians, With Apologies to You-Know-Who', Yolen mixes 'Beauty and the Beast' with the famous O. Henry story 'The Gift of the Magi', and the result is a hilarious surprise ending worthy of that great master. She skewers fundamentalist fanatics in 'Creationism, An Illustrated Lecture in Two Parts', which is dedicated to Salman Rushdie. Also very funny is 'Under the Hill' in which a fairy is forced to work for a two-bit mob boss.

The stories also are inspired by other cultures and mythologies.. 'Sister Death' is about Lilith, who according to Jewish folklore is the first mate of Adam who defied him and was thrown out of the Garden of Eden. I admit I prefer the Lilith-as-defiant-feminist-icon to the more traditional (if sympathetic) demoness shown here, but I still liked this story. Greek mythology is explored in 'Sun/Flight' (where Icarus survives his famous flight but never learns from his mistakes) and in 'The Sleep of Trees' (where a dryad makes love to a movie star she thinks is a god). 'Journey into the Dark' and 'Words of Power' take place in Native American millieus. And of course, Yolen returns to her own mythology in 'Blood Sister', a prequel to 'The Books of Great Alta', where Jenna's mother Selna is devastated by the loss of her childhood friend after her friend calls up her dark sister. Frankly, this explains a lot in the book - both Selna's strained relationship with Marjo and the insistence of the priestess on separating Jenna and Pynt, but even if you haven't read it (and you should) the story works marvelously on its own. And there are several other fine stories here, if not as instantly memorable as the ones I've discussed.

In a delightful afterword, Yolen explains much of her inspiration (or what she thinks she remembers!) for these stories. Most importantly, she reveals the all-powerful magic word so that other writers can come up with ideas - BIC (Butt In Chair!). Of course, Yolen not only HAS many good ideas, she has the grace and skill to turn them into gold. Reading Yolen's stories can help teach you the craft needed to write your own, and I strongly recommend this collection to anyone who wants to write fantasy as well as read it.

I love Jane Yolen, anyways, and her previous short story collections are amazing. She writes so poetically . . . but I have to admit, my favorite story in the bunch was "Tess and her Adequate Dick; or Dick W. and his Pussy", which was a rather bawdy retelling of a completely innocent fairy tale. Laden with double-entendres, silly puns (Dick lives by a pier, and "after much pier counseling" took the name of the pier -- "Whittington Pier" -- as his own), and other things one does not expect from Jane Yolen . . . She said so, herself, in her afterword, but her notes about the first public recitation of this story are hilarious. Much recommended, provided you have an odd sense of humor . . . and if you don't, there are plenty other stories in this book, one of which must suit your tastes . . .

"Tam Lin" has been my favorite fairy tale since kindergarten, and Jane Yolen retells it beautifully. The illustrations, too, are wonderful.
I especially like this story, because it is very unique. There is a heroine instead of a hero, Tam Lin and Janet are not a prince and princess, but commoners, and the fairies are evil.
This book is not only for children; teens and adults who are fans of Scottish folklore will adore it, too.
A tear always comes to my eye every time I read "Tam Lin". It will be enjoyed by many generations to come.

With Tam Lin Jane Yolen presents a beautiful retelling of the ancient Scottish ballad Tam Lin. Which concerns the young man Tam Lin who is enchanted by the fairy queen but saved by a brave maiden. Our resourceful and intelligent heroine here is Jennet McKenzie and she manages to free Tam Lin from the fairy queen's clutches and is rewarded with hislove. A book not just solely for children, I think. But an asset for all ages. Ms. Yolen's writing has the exact poetic touch and the illustrations are simply lovely. Text and illustrations thus are perfectly balanced.

This is one of several versions of the Tam Lin legend I've read, and by far the best--even though the other books were highly acclaimed novels. Jane Yolen's version is short but sweet--not to mention haunting, eerie, and beautiful. It's certainly not just a children's book; the spare, elegant writing and magical illustrations should charm readers of all ages who enjoy folk tales of dark magic, forbidden romance, danger and redemption. The heroine is spunky and courageous, the hero enigmatic and seemingly doomed. This is a classic.