CRUMBLING CASTLE
by Sarah Hayes & illustrated by Helen Craig
Three related stories take place in an intriguing setting: a castle originally inhabited by an ogre who, already nervous about its mysterious cracks and rumblings, moved out when ``the third bell tower fell.'' Next, an irascible wizard inhabits the lower regions with his crow, whose dream of grandeur is to be a raven. Their comical bickering and attendant transformations comprise the first story; in the second, a plaintive, increasingly evanescent ghost is restored to full strength by her own fear—of beetles, accommodatingly provided by the crow; and in the last, the rumblings turn out to be a dragon, a baby who, finally hatched, joins the odd mÇnage. Appealing British whimsy, with lots of imaginative details, funny dialogue, and deft line drawings, plentiful and witty, to extend the characterizations. A good step up for readers who've enjoyed Coombs's Dorrie books. (Fiction. 7-11)