Ever since Aesop, fantasy has played an important role in children's literature. Three new

books continue the tradition of enchanting and instructing young minds through the improbable. Reading levels vary among children, but these books are better suited for late elementary or early middle-school readers.

Jostein Gaarder's Hello？ Is Anybody There？ is the deceptively simple story of Joe, an 8-year- old boy, and Mika, an extraterrestrial visitor from the planet Eljo. They meet on the night that Joe's mother goes to the hospital in labor with his baby brother, As Joe waits at home for the impending birth, he gives Mika a tour of the world as he knows it — a dress rehearsal, of sorts, for his role as big brother. Gaarder injects philosophical notions naturally into the conversation as Joe and Mika consider everything from animal life to the origin of the universe. This book is a sweet introduction to some serious concepts. It is perfect for reading aloud because it opens wonderful opportunities for discussion between parent and child.

Holes by Louis Sachar, the 1998 National Book Award winner for young people's Literature, is a very tall tale about Stanley Yelnats, a middle-school loser who is wrongly accused of theft. Sent to Camp Green Lake in the middle of some mythical Texas badlands where it has not rained in 100 years, Stanley's rehabilitation consists of digging an endless series of holes under the scorching sun. Young readers will cheer as Stanley and his buddy Zero escape from their Sisyphean labor, solve the mystery will cheer as Stanley and his Zero escape from their Sisyphean labor, solve the mystery of why Green Lake is neither green nor a lake, free Stanley from an ancient Gypsy curse and eat a whole lot of onions. It is all highly unlikely, but that doesn't matter. What matters at the end of this fantastical moral fable is that virtue triumphs and evil is vanquished.

Virtue also triumphs is Count Karlstein by Philip Pullman, a Gothic melodrama that is delightfully over the top, Evil Count Karlstein is plotting to do away with the two nieces who have been sent to live with him in his Swiss castle. But the brave lasses, abetted by their loyal maid, a resourceful governess and the bumbling local police, foil the count's plans and consign him to the doom he deserves. First published in England in 1982, this book has neither the depth nor the subtlety of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife, the first two volumes in Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which have garnered massive critical and popular acclaim. But it will do nicely until the third volume in the trilogy appears.

Which of the following is TRUE of Gaarder's story？

A．It is a simple story about an 8-year-old 'boy.

B．Joe's mother has to work in a hospital at night.

C．Gaarder expresses his philosophy in the seemingly simple story.

D．It is poetic and should be read aloud for desired appreciation.