In an entertaining prequel to The Frog Princess (2002) and its two successors, 13-year-old Grassina and her snake friend, Pippa, run away to the swamp. There they find a capable, attractive magic-wielding young man, and Grassina discovers her own powers. Together, Grassina and the young man save the kingdom from werewolves. Although this can stand alone, it introduces all the elements around which the other books are built. Familiar fairy-tale conventions, an engaging main character who still occasionally plays with her doll, believable sibling rivalries, and a romantic love interest combine in this appealing choice.

This book includes discussions of the title bodies in addition to space exploration and commercialization technologies and possible extraterrestrial life. The detailed and informative entries cover historical and more recent findings, accounts of scientific debates, and speculation as to what future research might bring. The sharp-focused illustrations combine real satellite and telescope images with computer-generated depictions of planets and spacecraft. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind.

Gr 5-7-A prequel to The Frog Princess (Bloomsbury, 2003) and the fifth book in the series, this novel features a young Princess Grassina and her family. Her mother, Queen Olivene, the Green Witch, is grooming Grassina's older sister to inherit this title while ignoring Grassina's interest in magic and potential talent. The girls' rivalry and the entire kingdom are turned upside down when their father innocently brings their mother flowers, invoking a curse that changes her into an ugly hag. The queen's gleeful and perplexing antics provide some humor in this story but her disinterest in taking care of her realm threatens the safety of Greater Greensward, leads to the death of the king, and forces Grassina to undertake a quest. This tale satisfyingly explains much of the history behind the other books and gives insight into one of the more interesting characters in The Frog Princess. It continues the evolution of the series from a simple retelling of a well-known fairy tale into an entertaining saga featuring a fully developed magical world of its own.-Kathleen Meulen, Blakely Elementary School, Bainbridge Island, WA Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

In Baker's prequel to her four-part series, The Tales of the Frog Princess, which features Emeralda, readers are treated to the backstory of Emeralda's Aunt Grassina. Older sister Princess Chartreuse is infuriated by her failed efforts to get with the magic program and become the next Green Witch of the Greater Greensward kingdom. Grassina cannot keep a profile low enough to stay out of Chartreuse's rages. When the girls' father inadvertently turns his wife, Queen Olivene, the current Green Witch, into a cruel hag, tragedy befalls the castle. Chartreuse and Olivene heap ever-more abuse on Grassina who rescues Pippa, a wounded snake, and flees to a nearby island. There she meets Haywood, a young boy wizard who is drawn to Grassina's plucky resourcefulness. Just in time, they realize that Grassina has the gift of magic and is pegged to be the next Green Witch. They learn to use her fledgling gifts to ward off attacks from werewolves and an evil manticore, thus saving the kingdom and allowing Grassina to claim her rightful place as the anointed Green Witch. Baker throws a lot into this book-amusing smatterings of light humor, a fairly intense gore factor (beheadings and the bone-crunching demise of several creatures), and an increasingly gooey romantic element toward the end between Haywood and Grassina, which might be too much for her targeted audience. Nevertheless it is a popular series, so buy accordingly.-Beth E. Andersen.