Most of these poems are in fact short fairy tales – folk fairy tale rhymes of Middle Earth. Some of them are merry – others are a bit sad, like “The Sea-Bell” or “The Last Ship”, but all of them charming. My personal favourite is “Perry-the-Winkle” – a funny tale about an unusual friendship between a troll and a hobbit.

Tolkien’s poems are simple, but musical; his rhyme sings. He makes them all alive – the Princess Mee, the Lonely Troll who could cook better than any hobbit, the huge Oliphaunt, the old king sitting on his throne – and these bits of lore make his imaginary world – Middle Earth – still more real. I can almost hear a guitar playing at the background as I read these short pieces over and over again. I can visualise Frodo – alone in the Undying Lands – singing them and crying secretly for the homeland he left behind.

Some of those poems are simple enough to read to kids; others won’t be easy for kids to understand, but will make a grown-up heart cry with sadness and joy at once. Tolkien was – apart from everything else – an extraordinary poet.

She also befriends Ozma, the new Ruler of the Land of Oz and secures herself a free passage to Oz any time she chooses to go there.

I liked this book more than I did “The Marvelous Land of Oz”, the first sequel (which I didn’t like at all and won’t even review), but not as much as the original story. It could be just me, for I can’t put my finger on the reason – but it’s just so. Speaking about the character I like best (out of the new ones), it has to be the Yellow Hen that Dorothy named Billina – after all, it was she who secured the success of their mission and, besides, she is feisty. I like this kind.

I regret now that I didn’t read all these books as a child – I might have liked them better if I had. I’m sure children do – and of course, being a children’s book, “Ozma of Oz” is written so that kids aged seven to twelve will find it very easy to understand. It reminds me, I need to try and find the Russian version of these books for my daughter: she won’t read in English, no matter how hard I try to persuade her.

Needless to say the Town Councillors and the Mayor sound just a little too like the politicians of our time, and the description of their selfishness (which they don’t even bother to conceal) made me giggle.

Human nature hardly ever changes, and in my city statues aren’t even decorated with gold and gems… I wonder how many of our rich people remember to be charitable, even if once in a while. I’m sure Oscar Wilde’s fairy tale would touch even the most callous heart.

It is definitely a good read for the holiday season, which is over in the western countries by now, but just starting in Russia. Ours will last until 7 January, so there will be more fairy tale reviews to come in the following week.

But as they go forward and overcome multiple dangers they come across, we often notice that Scarecrow, though brainless, is actually the “brain” of the company, often suggesting a way out of an apparently hopeless situation; Tin Woodman is the most loving and caring creature always taking care not to hurt anybody – more so than most of us who have a heart – and the Lion often faces dangers to save his friends, without a moment’s hesitation.

Finally they reach the Emerald City and meet Oz, the Great and Terrible, who sends them to fight and kill the Wicked Witch of the West to earn their rewards. They succeed, but only to find out that Oz is not a wizard, but a humbug. Despite that, he makes their dreams come true – all except Dorothy’s. Poor little Dorothy still cannot get home, and the friends have to go to another journey full of danger and many great surprises. At the end she finds out that the Silver Shoes she’s been wearing since her first day in the Land of Oz can bring her home in three steps.

This beautiful fairy tale has kept generations of children fascinated. Answering to many requests from his grateful readers, L. Frank Baum wrote thirteen sequels to the book. It was translated into many languages, filmed and adapted multiple times, and now, after more than 100 years have passed since it was published, it still captures children’s (and adults’) hearts and minds.

Being Russian, I haven’t made acquaintance with L. Frank Baum’s book until I turned 30. As a child, I read “The Wizard of the Emerald City”, which is a loose translation done by our Alexander Volkov. In fact it’s so loose that I can hardly call it a translation: Volkov has added many new episodes and ditched others, changed the names of most characters and rephrased everything in the rest of the story. The main differences between the two books are faithfully listed here. Yet it’s definitely the same story, and I was sorry to hear about the copyright theft that took place in connection with it – the Soviet period of our history is not something I like to remember often.

Still, I’ve read all Volkov’s sequels (six in total, and almost entirely independent, bearing only vague resemblance to Baum’s sequels). So, naturally, when I finally got access to Baum’s books, I felt curious about his view on how the story should develop, and read his first sequel, “The Marvelous Land of Oz”. It was a big disappointment, and upon finishing it I said “enough” and never looked at the rest of the books. I think I might reconsider now – perhaps, that book failed to capture me because there was no Dorothy in it. The brave little girl, I’m now finding out, will be back in the rest of the series, so I might give those books another chance in the near future.

That’s a huge addition to my already very long “to read” list, but I’ll have to find the time somehow.

Having tried everything – even walking around headless – and all in vain, Sir Simon de Canterville finally gives up. Then one evening he meets Miss Virginia Otis, the only daughter of the American family, and after exchanging a few ironic remarks (mainly related to cultural differences) they become friends. Being kind-hearted and pure, young Virginia helps the Ghost to find his way to the Garden of Death where his unhappy spirit finally finds its rest. An old prophecy is fulfiled.

After that even Virginia’s very practical father finds in his heart some respect for Sir Simon. They find his skeleton in a secret room and bury it, strictly observing the custom. Thus, after several centuries of scaring generations of noblemen out of their minds, ends Sir Simon’s existence as a Ghost.

Written in Oscar Wilde’s charming, translucent and fragrant English, “The Canterville Ghost” has the air of a Christmas story and seems particularly fit for reading during the holiday season. Though it talks about the importance of being kind and of helping each other and reminds us that even the severest sins can be forgiven, it doesn’t sound either like a lecture or a sermon. Far from it. Oscar Wilde never preached. Rather, it sounds like a fairy tale and is sure to bring a few smiles to the reader’s face, even if that reader is a person of the gloomiest disposition (which I’m certainly not).

And even though Sir Simon’s reasons for stabbing his wife to death were totally sexist, I’m glad his spirit has found peace.

I’m hoping that the readers of my blog are having a peaceful holiday season.

One would think the world on the other side of the looking-glass is an exact reflection of our own world. How boring and unimaginative we adults must be to think so! As Alice soon finds out, it’s as different from our world as could be.

Once again Lewis Carroll plays with words – he can’t help himself. “There is nothing like it” might sound like a figure of speech at first – but then we find out he means it literally: a nice bit of fun for the natives, I daresay, and a good exercise for a foreign reader. Yet, once again, I feel sorry for the translators.

I couldn’t say why, but I feel a little sad as I follow Alice through the looking-glass world – something I never felt when reading the “Wonderland” book. There is something melancholy in the air, like saying good-bye to one’s childhood, which is weird, because Alice is just seven and a half, and the best part of her childhood is still waiting for her. Is it Lewis Carroll’s emotion that makes its way into the imaginary world on the other side of the mirror – or is it just me? I don’t know. It’s probably coming from the Russian cartoon based on the book, which I used to watch often together with my daughter when she was very little.

It’s a beautiful book all the same, and I enjoy every line of it, especially the dialogues. It says a lot about the author’s writing skills, I should think, because the dialogues have to be the hardest part of the art of writing. In Lewis Carroll’s hands they become as sweet as music and as captivating as unsolved mysteries. Lewis Carroll’s books are a great mystery as they are.

Talking flowers, invented words, goods in a store which move away when the customer looks at them, a Knight who can’t ride his horse and even the ill-tempered Red Queen – why is it so hard to let them go, as if they were the best friends I’d ever had? Why does a fairy tale meant for children tell so much to someone who has already a child of her own? How do those simple words weave such a strong spell over a reader? And the book isn’t even very long…

Do I just miss my own childhood? My conscious mind says no, but there must be a reason for the nostalgic feeling that Lewis Carroll’s books awaken in my heart.

I remember how I first found this book in a local library when I was just starting to read in English. “Alice” was so easy to read – so much easier than most of the books I could find. And yet – who was it who said that it would be easier to move London than to translate “Alice”? I have to agree with it, because the book is full of puns built around English words that are spelled differently, but pronounced the same or very similar (“tale” – “tail”, “tortoise” – “taught us”, “porpoise” – “purpose”, etc…) and funny verses slightly similar to well-known English verses, but in fact mocking them. These would have to be rewritten in every language “Alice” is translated to, still keeping the same mocking similarity to their originals translated into the same language.

But the book is so famous and so loved that it was translated into many languages – there are, for example, several Russian translations available to this day, and my daughter has some of them. Still, they could never compete with the original.

While re-reading the book for the purpose of reviewing it, I still laughed hard at the fussy White Rabbit, touchy Mouse, ferocious Queen fond of beheading and the ridiculous trial, which, I’m told, parodies the real proceedings of the author’s time (and I’m not sure that modern ones are much better than that). I can imagine that the deep philosophical question of whether it’s possible to behead someone or something that has a head but no body could cause a serious and heated debate in certain circles. There’s definitely more in Cheshire Cat than meets the eye – and I must admit that he is my favourite character in this book.

But what I love best about the book on the whole is the air of joyful, unspoiled purity that only a child’s dream can possess. Lewis Carroll – definitely not a child at the time of writing – has done a great job of it. His book effectively pulls me out of my winter blues any day and within a few minutes – just as soon as I visualise a cake with “Eat me” written upon it.

I believe this particular fairy tale is not meant for very little kids: not under nine at any rate. But it’s very good for adults of any age, for as long as they have their inner child, however deep it mignt be hiding.

When the little and common-sense hobbit Bilbo Baggins sets out for a journey with thirteen dwarves and a wizard, little does he know about what’s waiting for him there. Goblins and other smily creatures chase him, and he has to fight or run for his life. Once he loses his companions, but luckily finds them again soon. He finds a unique treasure that helps him more than once in peril. He uses his intelligence and wit to save his friends – and his judgement and noble heart to make the right choice at the moment of a crisis. He even summons enough courage to face a real dragon and talk to him.

“The Hobbit” gives us the first outlook on Middle Earth – just a small part of it, but presenting us with a good idea of what this imaginary world is like and what kinds of amazing creatures populate it. It gives us the first chance to fall in love with it too – the chance to get enchanted and to form an unbreakable bond with a world created by a genius. Once affected like this, one would be always happy to return.

The language used by the author is such that is easily understood by children – or foreign readers for that matter – but there is nothing primitive about it. It’s rich, melodious and colourful, with a hint at old-fashoned, which is common for High Fantasy books. And yet it’s quite different in style to “The Lord of the Rings”.

I have heard it’s now being filmed, and I’m sure the film will be a success. Tolkien’s fans will see to that – and their number keeps growing, as more and more people come to appreciate the greatness of his works. I’m one of them – not the kind who dress up and stage battles, but the kind who admire quietly and return to the books of the favourite writer again and again. Having recently turned 38 – hardly a child anymore – I’m discovering I still love “The Hobbit”.

I didn’t mind that, of course. Great masters always have their followers influenced strongly by their art. If the result is more good books for me to read, so be it. “The Weirdstone of Brisingamen” is a good book.

There are several episodes in which danger seems too close, and everything looks like the battle is lost – and the reader feels thrilled and forgets that the world in the book doesn’t even exist. But these episodes are skilfully alternated with quiet and beautiful scenes that allow the reader to rest, relax and recover hope. The writing style is quite typical for fantasy – melodious, sublime (unless it’s Gowther talking) with a few invented words that look quite natural – after all, it’s an invented world.

The kids – Colin and Susan – are admirably smart, brave and resilient for their age. For that reason alone kids will love this book – and, doubtless, adults also. The adventures will take your breath away – you won’t be able to read anything else until you finish this book.