Eager, Edward.Half Magic.- $4.80US. This book is a good introduction to the many others (Knight's Castle, Magic by the Lake, The Time Garden, etc.) that remain so entertaining. Set mostly in 1920s small town America, they are firmly in the Edith Nesbit tradition, though perhaps a bit more frothy. In Half Magic, children find a magic coin that grants wishes -- but only half of each wish. The misadventures that result make the book almost un-put-downable.

Garner, Alan. This author's books have become increasingly difficult to read -- some of the later ones are considered brilliant but inaccessible -- but the earlier ones remain among the most powerful tales of myth-touching-our-world that I have ever read. Like many other enduring books, Elidor and The Owl Service are not reprinted often enough, but both are worth a search. The latter retells a heartbreaking legend from the Mabinogion in modern and finally hopeful terms, breaking an ancient spell. The former is a tale of how four children preserve the four treasures of the Celtic Otherworld, saving that land and ultimately losing it. The final scene in Elidor is one of the best accounts I know, told in a few words, of what it must be like to catch one glimpse of Faerie and then be barred from it forever, leaving you haunted for the rest of your life.

Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows.- $13.27US. Hardcover, illustrated. This classic should be on everybody's shelves.

Juster, Norton.The Phantom Tollbooth.- $3.99US. This story may not be the only one of its kind anywhere, but it can't have many competitors. It's about a boy who drives a toy car into a never-never land of puns and grammatical abstractions come to life, where he and a humbug in striped trousers go on a desperate quest to restore the rule of rhyme and reason. There is a serious theme behind the story, but it's so much fun to read, you don't care. The drawings by Jules Feiffer are exactly right.

Katz, Welwyn Wilton.Out of the Dark.- $6.95US+$1.85US. special surcharge This Canadian writer's stories for young adults often blend strong emotional themes with fantasy. Here, a boy and his family work through grief after his mother's death. After a move to a Newfoundland fishing village, carved wooden ships and an ancient Viking myth bring magic and healing.

Kipling, Rudyard.The Jungle Book,- $10.46US. Hardcover, illustrated. This story of a boy raised by wolves in the Indian jungle is animal fable, adventure, and allegory about the passing of childhood, all in one. It's also an absorbing read, if you can exclude the Disney images from your mind.

Langton, Jane.The Diamond in the Window.- $3.60US. The author of popular and literate mysteries for adults has written a satisfying, well-crafted fantasy for children, in the tradition of Edith Nesbit.

LeGuin, Ursula. One of the finest writers of adult science fiction has created an enduring classic in her Earthsea series. The first three books tell the story of Sparrowhawk (Ged) and his rocky progress from gifted, wayward boy to the most powerful wizard in the world. Along the way he deals with dragons (wonderful beasts, even better than Smaug), battles a darkness from within himself, and at last crosses into the land of death to save the world from creeping evil. LeGuin doesn't pull her moral punches, and the last book is more overtly adult in tone than the others. It brings back Tenar, the girl-priestess of the second book, as a mature woman who rescues an abused child, nurtures Ged after his return to "normal" life and deals with the local wizard's abuse of power. Tehanu won the 1991 Nebula Award for science fiction.

L'Engle, Madeleine. Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet.- $17.19US. Set includes A Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, A Wind in the Door and Many Waters. Much of the appeal of these books is the "differentness" of the children. Gifted and misunderstood, they will find a sympathizer in any child who has been an outsider. L'Engle also doesn't compromise the difficult but ultimately rewarding moral themes that underpin her entertaining stories. Great reading for adults as well as children.

Lewis, C.S. When I read the Narnia books as a child, I had no idea they were sustained Christian allegories: I only knew they were wonderful, magical stories with delightful characters and edge-of-the-seat plots, and I wished I had a closet like that. It wasn't until I re-read them in my teens that I recognized the metaphors. They can be read either way with equal enjoyment: the magic still holds, but there is a depth to them that sets them apart from other tales of magic, and that undoubtedly arises from Lewis's faith. The Narnia books.- $27.72US. Boxed set. Contains all seven books: The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; A Horse and His Boy; The Silver Chair; The Last Battle

McCaffrey, Anne. The creator of the Dragons of Pern also created this companion series for younger readers, more captivating than the adult books in many ways. A young girl loses home and family, risks death, and overcomes prejudice to become a respected harper in a world where harping is a male occupation. Along the way she discovers and befriends the tiny flying lizards, distant cousins of the great dragons. The small lizards ultimately play a role in saving the planet. The third book adds a boy drummer to the story. The theme of children and other small creatures who are first dispossessed and devalued, and who later win honour, is satisfying and grippingly told.

Mahy, Margaret.The Changeover; a Supernatural Romance.- $3.99US. In this now-classic book by a New Zealand writer, a young girl discovers her own supernatural powers as she tries to save her younger brother from evil forces.

Nesbit, Edith.Five Children and It.- $3.19US. and The Enchanted Castle.- $3.19US. These were among the first fantasy books I ever read, and I still recall how quickly I became absorbed in them. The basic theme in most of Nesbit's books -- a group of ordinary children whose everyday lives are turned upside down by the sudden intrusion of magic -- set the pattern for countless other books in the next ninety years (The Enchanted Castle was published in 1907.) They have worn very well: their Edwardian-English flavour adds to their charm, the children remain believable and adventurous, and the writing is still solidly readable. And there are still authentically chilling moments as well as funny ones.

Norton, Mary.The Borrowers.- $4.80US. Any child (and any imaginative grownup) will be charmed by this tale of minuscule people who live under the floorboards in an English house and construct their clothes, furnishings and anything else they need out of odds and ends dropped by humans. (This explains what happens to pens, socks, etc., that go missing.) The ingeniousness of their way of life is entrancing, and you immediately empathize when their secret is exposed and their very existence is threatened. There are several sequels.

O'Shea, Pat.The Hounds of the Morrigan.- $11.16US. An Irish writer with a firm grip on the nuances of dialect (the conversational exchanges are vivid and often side-splittingly funny), O'Shea also has a lively way with characters, especially those from the Irish Otherworld who have infiltrated our own world, to bizarre, entrancing or frightening effect. This story about the release of ancient evil, told from the point of view of a young brother and sister, is a long, rambling read that will intrigue older children and delight adults.

Pearce, Phillipa.Tom's Midnight Garden.- $3.96US. A classic story about time travel, love and the magic of gardens, a haunting and compelling read.

White, T.H.The Once and Future King.- $13.56US. Contains White's Arthurian quartet, beginning with the well-known Sword in the Stone. Popularized by Disney, the original works are far richer, more imaginative, funnier and more terrifying than the cartoon could suggest. And as Arthur grows up, so does the story: the three later books -- The Queen of Air and Darkness, The Ill-Made Knight, A Candle in the Wind -- progress relentlessly towards the tragic yet hopeful conclusion.

Wynne Jones, Diana.The Time of the Ghost.- $3.96US. The premise grabs you immediately: the narrator is a ghost, only she doesn't know how she got that way. Worse, she knows she's one of the girls in her family, but doesn't know which one. Who is going to be killed, and how? And can she prevent it? This author's varied and highly original plots are rife with surprise twists and moments of pure hilarity. Add deadly danger and supernatural complications, and the read is irresistible.