Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

A truly unusual happening - the creation of a sorcerer - has set the magic and wizards of the Disc all aflutter. The youngster doesn't really understand his own power, plus, he's being controlled by a not-quite-dead wizard father in the form of a staff. Things will never be the same again.

Rincewind is once again called on, as the worst wizard in the world, to be the hero. He meets up with the daughter of Cohen the Barbarian and together they're forced with the company of a very rich, very bored seriph with literary aspirations.

There's quite a bit of bickering between the crew during their quest, which I found more annoying than smart. I was much more interested in the machinations of the Librarian trying to save the living, magic books of Unseen University. And, in the magic war reforming the Disc.

It ends with things a few things unresolved - but there are 36 more books in the series.

Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O'Neill

Turning all the fairy princess conventions on their head, a girl is saved from imprisonment, a boy is saved from danger, a town is saved from destruction, and a kingdom is saved from evil.

A brave princess (with truly awesome hair) starts the action by saving a maiden trapped in a tower. Learning independence and self-sufficiency, the pair go about doing other brave and wonderful things. And fall in love.

There's a lot packed into the 53 pages of this graphic novel, and it's done well. I laughed, I was surprised, and I was very impressed by O'Neill's bold ambition in the story.

Three Tales of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

At the suggestion of an alley cat, a brave boy named Elmer Elevator sets off to rescue a dragon.

This 50th anniversary volume contains the books My Father's Dragon, Elmer and the Dragon, and The Dragons of Blueland along with an introduction by the author. Together, they make up the "Elmer and the Dragons series." In the first book, Elmer sets off to save an enslaved baby dragon. The second book is the fantastic journey homeward. In the third book, the dragon returns to enlist Elmer's help in saving his family.

I read this as part of my self-education on award-winners of the past; the first book in the series was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal when it was published in 1948.

It's an odd type of children's story - the kind we had before anyone took "children's literature" very seriously. It's a series of wildly improbable adventures taken by a child without the aid of adults. There are talking animals. There's menace, but no big danger befalls them. All's well in the end, and it always finishes with the adults befuddled as to what's happened right under their noses!