Cover of Ring Out: A Book of Bells by Jane Yolen

Ring Out: A Book of Bells

A book about the history and mystery of bells, bell ringing, and bell making. As I say in the book: “Where men and their civilizations have flourished, bells flourished, their voices touching all fields of human endeavor.” Well, it was the 1970s and I wasn’t sufficiently smart enough to include women in

Cover of Rainbow Rider by Jane Yolen

Rainbow Rider

This folk parable of friendship began with the rock-and-roll song “Joy to the World” in which the group Three Dog Night sang “I’m a deep sea diver, I’m a rainbow rider. . .” and it started me thinking. English illustrator Michael Foreman’s glorious color-drenched pictures

Cover of The Magic Three of Solatia by Jane Yolen

Magic Three of Solatia, The

This four-part fantasy novel reads like an expanded folk tale. There is a sea witch, a hero, a heroine, and a lot of magic. Patricia MacLachlan’s husband Bob claims that this is his favorite of my books. A Japanese edition came out in 1985, a Spanish edition in 1997.

Cover of The Boy Who Had Wings by Jane Yolen

Boy Who Had Wings, The

Another one of my original fairy tales, this story came out of our nine-month camping trip in Europe, and especially our time in Greece. A boy with wings is born into a poor herder’s family, and he is considered deformed. But when he saves his father during a freak snow storm, he is

Cover of The Girl Who Cried Flowers by Jane Yolen

Girl Who Cried Flowers, The

The publication of this book, nine years after my first book had appeared, established my reputation in the children’s literature field. These five original fairy tales–“The Girl Who Cried Flowers,” “Dawn Strider,” “The Weaver of Tomorrow,” “The Lad Who Stared Everyone Down,” and “Silent

Cover of The Wizard Islands by Jane Yolen

Wizard Islands, The

A study of islands that have mysteries or ghost stories attached to them, and a section on disappearing or appearing islands, like Surtsey which is a volcanic island. Quackenbush used old maps and charts as well as drawings to illustrate the book. This was long a favorite of my son, Adam.

Cover of Zoo 2000 Edited by Jane Yolen

Zoo 2000

This anthology of twelve stories of science fictional and fantasy beasts, includes two original stories (by Dale Ferguson Cope and Richard Curtis) and ten reprints by such luminaries as Theodore Sturgeon, Arthur C. Clarke, Larry Niven, James Thurber, Andre Norton, and Philip Jose Farmer. I contributed only the introduction.

Cover of Friend: The Story of George Fox and the Quakers by Jane Yolen

Friend: The Story of George Fox and the Quakers

A biography–warts and all–of the charismatic founder of the Society of Friends aka the Quakers. George Fox was a man who believed that God was within every human being, and such was his conviction, he managed to offend a good portion of the English clergy and the powers that be. He was