Here are eight gloriously imaginative stories for eight satisfying sessions of bedtime reading.

Theres a flying apple pie, a cat thats bigger than an elephant, a house that lays an egg, storybook animals that leap out of their books at night, and a wealth of other wonderful characters and ideas, all with the colorful, dreamlike quality of the very best fairy tales.

Joan Aikens delicious prose is a joy to read aloud to very young listeners yet simple enough for the independent reader to savor on his or her own.

Kevin Hawkess illustrationsnearly 60 of themcapture with great flair and fun the magical adventures and the triumph of the good over the bad.From the Trade Paperback edition.