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Classic fairy tales get a feminist makeover for parents who don't like their princesses tricked out, locked up or comatose. But were the old ones really that bad?

At the turn of the millennium, Kathleen Krull's "They Saw the Future" gives kids a look at futures past.

Reading "Charlotte's Web" with the clarity of an adult inspires tears, smiles and tenderness.

Hilarity and insight -- sometimes unintended -- show up in the early writings of great authors.

The sidewalk ends for the beloved children's author.

Spring blooms eternal in this selection of children's books about flowers and fairies.

I envy Arthur's independence, but his parents' hands-off approach is a relic of childhoods past.

Forget the leprechauns -- it's irreverence, mythologies, and assistant pig-keepers that make Irish stories spellbinding for kids.

Bestselling author J.K. Rowling is still trying to fathom the instant fame that came with her first children's novel.

An ex-punk rocker turned mother contemplates her latest passion, children's folk music.

Classic and iconoclastic books shake up the alphabet and take kids on a trip through the Dictionapolis of the written word.

New ABC books are breathing life into an old genre by making letters vanish, get lost and pop up in unexpected places.

Just as its enigmatic author predicted, nothing in the universe can be the same for those who love 'The Little Prince' -- but why?

A 4-year-old and her father give the new 'Rugrats' brand extension a big thumbs-up.

Themes of transformation and metamorphosis populate three weirdly hypnotic books for kids.

Love and art are the twin redeemers for the hipster heroes and heroines of Francesca Lia Block's young adult novels.

How do you get rid of the gunk, Gak and slime your beloved offspring have unceremoniously ground into their jeans and slung against the wall? Sometimes all it takes is a simple household item to cleanse away the sludge of childhood.

A child's life is full of music, from 'Happy Birthday,' to 'Hickory, Dickory, Dock.' What better way to capture the delight of childhood than with picture books built around the magic of music? Polly Shulman reviews five new books who's words leap and sing in harmony.

A selection of books immerses kids in a wetter, wavier world

The movie version of the children's classic 'Madeline' is true to the spirit of the book.

Ric Lynden Hardman revives the cowboy genre with "Sunshine Rider: The First Vegetarian Western" -- a picaresque, cocky, playful coming-of-age novel.

There are still plenty of dull sex books for kids with organ diagrams that resemble bus maps of Rome. But there are also some honest, respectful books that tell kids what they really want to know.

Mid-air diaper changes and occasional airsickness aside, flying with my toddler at the controls brings back the thrill I felt when my dad taught me to fly.

The artist is the hero in these sensuous children's books that will inspire a passion for painting and provide insight into some secrets of artmaking. In her monthly children's book column, Polly Shulman reviews 'Yellow and You,' by Candace Whitman; 'Chuck Close Up Close,' by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan; 'Little Girl In a Red Dress With Cat and Dog,' by Nicholas B.A. Nicholson, illustrated by Cynthia Von Buhler; 'The Artist's Friends,' by Allison Barrows; and 'Linnea in Monet's Garden,' by Christina Björk , illustrated by Lena Anderson