This is a very charming book. Not only is there Chekhov's fine story about a lost dog getting involved in a circus act, but the illustrations are wonderful. Surely this is the way 19th Century St. Petersburg looked!

My daughter first found this book in the library when she was six, and it quickly became one of her favorites.

A great novel in which two brothers are pitted against each other by the dark forces determined to take both their thrones. Lleu, heir to the throne, is bullied by his brother for being weak, yet finds the courage to escape from prison when he is wrongfully incarcerated, and go in search of the last Crystal Knight. Along the way he is befriended by a rogue who just may have stepped into the past from our own world. The dynamics between Lleu and his bullying younger brother reveal two men who both have their kingdom's best interests at heart, yet cannot see eye-to-eye on how best to run it. Meanwhile, conniving forces are at work to steal the throne from both of them. This is a great alternate-history world, with all the right elements for a grand, High-Fantasy epic. And wait until you meet the ice giants! Big-budget movies couldn't do better than the words of the authors in creating some truly remarkable creatures.