THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN BEASTS

This delightful story could double as a fantasy and as an encyclopedia of fabulous beasts. A scholarly little boy named Andrew Peterson Smith, who believes in Science and is opposed to anything imaginary, comes across an old bestiary in the library. To his surprise Andrew finds himself inside the book, where, accompanied by a unicorn, a manticore, and a cockatrice, he is introduced to a mermaid, a dragon, a griffin, as well as Pegasus, the goose-tree, an amphisbena, a phoenix, and avcentaur. The creatures are all described in detail and with good humor. The excellent black-and-white illustrations might almost have been taken from a medieval bestiary, and readers may be as lost as Andrew in them. For those who read fairy tales, myths, and other forms of fantasy, this is an imaginative reference book, for the others it is a good introduction.