Giant John (Hardcover)
by Arnold Lobel
ISBN: 0805082956

Price: USD 11.53
37 used & new available from USD 9.45

Giant John and his mother have no food except two potato chips, so John goes off to get a job and make some money. What kind of job will he get? And what will happen when his friends the fairies want him to dance?

I was quite pleased to discover that Giant John is coming back into print. The story ends in a fun way that will leave everybody laughing at John’s attempts to help. Arnold Lobel’s pictures may be the best part, and I always get a kick out of the picture of John’s mother when he comes home at the end.

The Sea Fairies (Paperback)
by L. Frank Baum
ISBN: 0486401820

Price: USD 9.95
17 used & new available from USD 1.77

Trot and Cap’n Bill meet some mermaids who invite them to visit their palace underwater. Trot and Cap’n Bill accept the invitation and, after the mermaids give Trot the form of a mermaid and Cap’n Bill the form of a merman, they all go to the palace, where Trot and Cap’n Bill meet Queen Aquareine of the mermaids. But Zog the Magician captures the queen, Trot, Cap’n Bill, and Princess Clia, and it’s a battle of magic to see who will come out victorious.

As a warning, in my copy of this book a few little sections have the lines of text switched around, so you have to read it out of order so it makes sense. Zog is pretty sinister. The battles of magic in his castle are neat. Most of the book is more of Trot and Cap’n Bill visiting the ocean, but it picks up somewhat at the end with Zog.