Benjamin Elkin (1911–1995)

Lucky wants to go fishing...but the brook is gone! He finds that a giant, Elmo, has dammed up the brook to make a lake. According to law, a giant gets to set a task; a human who can do the task gets to have one thing he/she asks for. A human who cannot must work for the giant for seven years. After Lucky's father and mother end up working for the giant, Lucky takes on the challenge. What I especially like about this book is that after defeating the giant, Lucky and his family help out and show more they all end up friendly with one another. Such a refreshing change from the 'kill the giant' mentality!

Adorable pictures and a clearly told story make this childen's early reader a hit in my opinion. show less

Oh I absolutely would have loved this when I was a child. Who can't identify with a clever boy who has a kind king for a friend, who team up to make themselves, the kingdom, and the other children happier and safer? Just long enough to immerse one's self in, but not too long to be too much of a challenge to read.

The Queen of Sheba visits King Solomon. In this version, "she had long been jealous of King Solomon's fame ... and hoped to shame him before his own people and before the whole world."
Her riddles/tests include one to see if he can tell boys from girls. He is able to solve her final test---to find the real flower among many false ones---with the help of a little bee that he had saved in the past. The queen is "convinced. The very next day, the Queen of Sheba and her councilors signed a show more treaty of friendship with King Solomon." And the king realizes, "None is so great that he needs no help, and none is so small that he cannot give it."

BTW, he has a nifty throne.
The illustrations are colorful. show less

Three short, ludicrous fantasy tales about a clever young lad overcoming obstacles with some lateral thinking. The situations are silly and the characters are lacking in charm or dimension.

When we first read it back in 2007, my daughter and I both found it quite meh.