There are a lot of perks in being a book reviewer. The most obvious is that I get anywhere from two to fifty free books every week. Opening those boxes makes every day a little like Christmas. Some of my favorite perks come from continually sharing books with others. I like seeing children react to a story I enjoy, groaning with other writers about another dreadful celebrity book, or learning about new titles from people who love them.

That's how I heard about James C. Christensen's Voyage of the Basset which is published by the Greenwich Workshop. My brother-in-law turned me on to the title and I trusted his recommendation because he adores elegant illustration, fantasy, and sharing reading adventures with his daughter. This book is a one hundred and sixty-seven page illustrated novel about a close-to-ten year old named Cassandra Aisling who loves mysterious and magical things. She's troubled, not just because of her mother's recent death, or by the fact that her sixteen year old sister's growing sensible, but by her father's worry. Her father, Algernon Aisling, is a professor of mythology who's been told by "a quite horrid little man by the name of Bilgewallow" that "mythology was silly and that the university would soon be done with such nonsense."

When Cassandra asks her father for a story about faeires and magic, he begins to daydream about a ship that could take them to the lands of legends. The author informs us, "that kind of daydreaming sometimes results in the most surprising things, and this time that thing was pure magic." The following evening, as the Aisling family takes their nightly walk along the Thames they happen upon a delicate,beautifully decorated ship manned by dwarfs and gremlins. Malachia, the Captain of the HMS Basset tells the flummoxed family "Your ship is ready at your bidding."And so the family casts off on a wonderful adventure where learning "the geography of imagination" is as important as studies of geometry and history.

This book takes readers as young as nine on a journey that's a blend of magic, spirituality, philosophy, myth and delight in words. Realistic full-color illustrations show a turn of the century world meeting mythical magical beings like faires, harpies, a minotaur, and the Medusa. Peppered throughout are black and white sketches accompanied by brief non-fiction write ups of the legendary creatures who animate the story.

I have two surprises for my brother-in-law. First, the Voyage of the Basset has inspired a fantasy series for 10-13 year olds published by Random House. And Greenwich Workshop has another new book by Bev Doolittle which reminds me of the Bassett. Doolittle, an environmental print artist published The Earth is My Mother on the thirtieth anniversary of Earth day. She refers to her story of Sarah, a young girl who goes on modern day vision quest to save a canyon from commercial development, as "20 years of paintings rolled into one story".

Both Voyage of the Bassett and The Earth is My Mother are great family reads for parents and children who want to share mystery, myth, magic and glorious illustrations.

James C. Christensen, Voyage of the Basset (Greenwich Workshop, $29.95)

Bev Doolittle with Elise Maday, The Earth is My Mother ($17.95)