LITTLE LONG-NOSE

In the Treasures series, a book that is not only nicely designed for small hands, but is the most appealing version since Lisbeth Zwerger's Dwarf Nose (1994) of an original tale that is replete with evil spells and gourmet cookery, from a contemporary of the Brothers Grimm. When young Jacob insults an old woman in the marketplace, she turns him into a squirrel for seven years. Forced to be one of her many furry servants, he rises through the rodentine hierarchy to Cook, regains a distorted version of his human form, and escapes; later, as chef for the Duke, he rescues a wizard's daughter who has been transformed into a goose, thus regaining his original features. Stoddart supplies a generous sheaf of small, neatly painted scenes done in a neoclassical style, capturing both the story's humor and its informal but elegant tone. A beautiful little volume. (Fiction. 10-12)