THE BOY AND THE GIANT

``Based on a little-known folktale from the Scottish Hebrides,'' a tale of a boy whose kindness to animals is rewarded when they help him rescue a friend. Thomas always lets the little fish go; he has also freed a trapped otter and cared for an injured eagle. When his dear friend Kate is enslaved by a giant, the eagle flies Thomas to her side; the giant's wife promises to free them both in return for a string of pearls that Thomas eventually gathers with the otter's assistance—but not before he forgets himself, for a time, with an enchanted princess under the sea. Moodie's retelling is straightforward and unadorned, but the book's best feature is her glowing, stylized art, with the action caught in the kind of serenity and lovingly rendered detail that imbues medieval tapestries. An attractive new setting for a proven story formula. (Folklore/Picture book. 4-8)