Many of the earliest children's books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Pook Press are working to republish these classic works in affordable, high quality editions, using the original text and artwork so these works can delight another generation of children.

This is a novel containing two parallel stories: a fable about Ortho the Cricket's quest to sing a World Song which transcends the traditional Cricket Song and it is also a story about Dan Lesniak's quest for artistic expression that transcends traditional painting techniques. Ortho and Dan travel different paths to same destination. Both meet obstacles on the way that hinder their quests and threaten to prevent them from achieving their life-long pursuits.

Lanky Dank is the lone survivor of a terrible shipwreck, which leaves him in a state of amnesia and distressing fear. He finds himself on the shores of Urula Beach, where hes rescued by a passel of dwarfish people-the Tattertoids. Their roundish faces were as dazzling as their oddish duds. It was hard to look into their eyes that stuck out on the surface of their cinnamon skin like glittering marbles. They bring him to their strange dwelling in a cave inside Warwick Hill. Just as stunned with the interior of their home as hed been with their appearance, Lanky Dank felt he was surely dreaming. Fear possessed him. And when he learns at length the eldest son, Izzie, has run off with Warrior Wolfe who had been ordered by the King to go and reconnonoitre the lair of four dragons whod shut up the neighboring kings castle in the Land Beyond the River, Lanky Dank wanted no part of it. But to show his gratitude to the Tattertoids for rescueing him, he drags himself along willy-nilly.

Can Lanky Dank overcome his debilitating fear and be of some use in the inevitable showdown with the ferocious Formidable Four?

Aesop's fables are as fresh today as they have ever been. We have all heard of the hare and the tortoise and the boy who cried wolf - and children still love these short stories with their simple morals. Milo Winter provided beautiful illustrations for these tales, in a book first published in 1919 - reproduced fully in black and white for this new edition.