This anthology has both original stories (including my much reprinted “Johanna,” about a girl who turns into a deer) and reprints. Weredogs, weredeer and werecockroaches abound. (Yes, I reprinted part of Kafka’s” Metamorphoses.”)
Simple Prince, The
The original story was (I thought) better written but I had to revise it downwards for the editor in order to make it fit into a line of easy-readers. An original tale about a prince who decides to live the simple life and discovers just how difficult that is. This book was written during the 1970s
Giants’ Farm, The
This gentle little easy reading chapter book is one of my books that simply got lost. That is, it had nice reviews and few sales. I never understood why. The story is about a house-proud spider and her friend, Bluebottle Burt who helps her keep her web clean. There is a nosy, loud-mouthed bird, and as a bonus, a song at the end.
Seeing Stick, The
This original fairy tale about a Chinese princess who is blind is one of my own personal favorites. Surprisingly, I started it after reading an article in the magazine “Field and Stream.” When I first read a draft to my writing group, the last line was not in place. One of the writers asked, “Is the old
Rounds About Rounds
This mammoth collection was my second song book. Babbie Green is a good friend and professional musician. (Her father was Johnny Green, a Hollywood composer and arranger.) We had a ball working on this. I picked all the songs, found the written music or sung it into a tape recorder and then
Hundredth Dove, The
Six of these seven fairy tales are totally original–“The Hundredth Dove,” “The Maiden Made of Fire,” “The Wind Cap,” “The White Seal Maid,” “The Promise,” “The Lady and the Merman.” The seventh, “Once A Good Man,” was based on an old story. This was the third collection of fairy tales I wrote
Sultan’s Perfect Tree, The
I actually wrote this original fairy tale in answer to something illustrator Ed Young said. He’d originally signed on to do the art for the book “The Seeing Stick” and then pulled out of the project saying “I can’t work on this because the princess is not perfect.” (In the book she is blind and a whiner, though
Hannah Dreaming
The Springfield Museum was putting together a doll and dollhouse show and asked me to write a little story that they could use as their catalog. Allen Epstein, a local photographer, was assigned to work with me. I wrote a story about Hannah (portrayed by my daughter Heidi) who goes into the
Lady and the Merman, The
This original fairy tale was first published in the magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction before joining others in my collection of HUNDREDTH DOVE and later NEPTUNE RISING. It is clearly autobiographical as I was always trying to please my father. There are 100 numbered and signed copies plus
An Invitation to the Butterfly Ball
I wrote the first draft of this counting rhyme on the drive home from New York City. Normally a three hour drive, it took me over five hours as I kept pulling off the road to scribble stuff down. Revisions took another couple of days. Very rare for me to work so quickly. The repetitive verse, in which the