Giant Island by Doug Keith (Illustrated by), Jane Yolen

Grandpa goes fishing with his two grandchildren on Giant Island.  It's a small island and the children are disappointed that are no giants.

Independent Publishers Group and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can get a copy now. 

The children wander the island and look for what they can find.  Then they go swimming.  That is when they find the giant!

Grandfather takes them home because no fish are biting.  He acts like they are silly to think they saw a giant but when they go, he says goodbye to the giant...

Eeny Up Above! Jane Yolen, Kathryn Brown (Illustrated by)

Eeny is a mole.  Her sisters are very happy in their home but Eeny is more adventuress.  She goes up and samples all of the seasons of the year.  Her favorite is Spring.  (It's mine, too!)

Crocodile Books and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 5th.

Eeny talks to her friends and learns about the dangers in Spring.  They even mention humans.

She actually meets up with a human.  Will she be safe?

The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen, Holly Black

You know those fairy tales we're all familiar with, like Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland?  This anthology will take those tales and twist them around into something else...

Tachyon and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published on November 14th.

I read a lot of Jane Yolen and she never disappoints you.  Sometimes the tale she tells doesn't go the way I might want it to but it's always a good story.  (I also believe in making up my own ending if it makes me feel better.)

There are a variety of tales, most are short, a few fairly long.  It's pure fantasy with a touch of whimsy by a polished author.  Even Emily Dickinson makes an appearance here.

I enjoyed this collection.  Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea (or whatever you drink), find a comfy chair, and visit different lands with different dreams and familiar characters who do things differently.  My favorite is the tale about when Alice gets old and goes down the rabbit hole again...

The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen, Rebecca Guay (Illustrated by)

She's the youngest of her sisters and she is training to be an herbalist like her father.  When she finds an usual plant and shows it to him, he tells her it's Dragon's Bane.  It shouldn't exist unless there is a dragon near but he tells her not to worry.  After all, the dragons have all been killed...

Dark Horse Books and Edelweiss gave the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published May 10th.

When her father goes back to get some of the herbs they had passed by, he never comes back.  Other people or animals start going missing.  Then someone actually sees the dragon.  There's still one left...

They attempt to make the town dragon proof by putting up barriers and keeping people inside but they can't do for that long.  There are jobs to be done, animals to be fed and crops to bring in.  So they ask the young men of the village to go find a hero who will kill their dragon.

Heroes are hard to come up since they haven't been needed for so long.  Most who would accept the gold are drunks or totally run down.  When they find a young man who looks to be in the prime of his life, he says he's a hero.  He shows them his muscles and talks about his conquests while he drinks their gold up in beer.  Then he heads out, without them and without going to the town.  They run him down.

What the youngest daughter finds is that he is not a hero; he just knows good tales.  She decides to help him stop the dragon.

This is an exciting tale with beautiful graphics by Ms. Guay.  I found myself admiring some of the frames before I kept reading.  I loved this one enough I've ordered me a copy for my own library.  Some books are keepers.

Centaur Rising by Jane Yolen

Jane Yolen has written some very good books, so I had to see what she did with a centaur in her story.

Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 21st, so you can grab a copy then.

This book covers more than one subject.  The youngest, a son, has birth defects from a medicine that was used to help control morning sickness at the time of his mother's pregnancy.  Mother and daughter love him dearly and work to protect him from other people's nasty comments.  The father left after his birth.  So divorce has raised its ugly head in their household.

Not only do they have a deformed boy, now a pony that hasn't been bred is pregnant.  Ari saw a falling star during the Perseid meteor shower and thinks magic might be involved.  Her little brother is need of a miracle to keep his spirits up and give him some joy in his life.  When the pony has a centaur, he's thrilled.  The rest of the household is scared;  scared of who will see him and what will happen.

The centaur grows fast and soon is no longer a secret.  I like how they find a way to for her brother to ride him and then open that up to other handicapped children.  The storyline is handled nicely.  The ending is a bit much for me but it's appropriate for the age group the book is geared for and it fits well.  Just suspend your belief system for a bit and read a good fantasy about a make believe animal that's half-human.  You'll enjoy it.

The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen

I love Jane Yolen's books, but I have to say this one is my very favorite so far.  You've got to give this book a peek, you'll want it too!

Dark Horse Books and Net Galley shared this ebook with me (thank you both).  The book will be published on the 21st of this month.  The illustrator is Rebecca Guay.

This is a beautiful book.  Yolen's golden words grace the pages, and Guay's illustrations are outstanding.  Together they weave a beautiful story of the last remaining dragon. The villagers believed they had destroyed them all, but there was one surviving egg...

This fantasy at its finest and is suitable for both younger and older adults.  The story is light, the dragon is dangerous, and the villagers are hoping for a hero.  The man they find tells tall tales but is no hero.  Will he become one?  You'll have to read the book to find out.

Happy reading.