Dreamland Fairy-Tales I

Teya Rosenberg teaches children’s literature at the University of
Alberta.

These 15 tales are about little boys and girls, little cats, little
devils, little puppies, little kites, flower spirits, elves, dwarfs, and
baby Jesus. The protagonist in each story learns some worthy lesson.
“Little Suzy,” a kitten, longs to be a dog. After a trip to Africa,
where she encounters a lion, and an elephant wizard who turns Suzy into
a dog who hunts partridge, Suzy decides she is happier as a kitten and
returns home a kitten once more. In “The Kingdom of Balls,” Cindy,
who does not like school, falls down a hole while chasing her ball and
lands in fairyland where she can play ball all day long. She eventually
gets bored and wants to go home, but before she can climb back up the
hole, she has to answer three difficult math questions.

Most of the stories are in the tradition of a Hans Christian Anderson
tale, with a similar fondness for whimsy and for teaching a lesson. But
Anderson’s best stories have a strength of imagination and a style
that keep them from being cloying. These stories do not have that
strength; instead they are depend on clichés and competent but
uninspiring illustrations. They are also poorly edited, with many
punctuation, spelling, and syntax errors. Not recommended.