The Legend of the Golden Snail, written and illustrated by Graeme Base, Abrams Books, $19.95, ages 4-8, 48 pages. A plucky lad named Wilbur sets sail on a wooden chair to find a giant snail from his favorite bedtime story in this grand and wondrous tale. According to the legend, a Grand Enchanter once cast a spell on a giant Golden Snail that turned it into a ship and forced it to take him wherever he wanted to go. But when the enchanter tired of life, he banished the Golden Snail to the Ends of the Earth so no one else could ride in it. Now, whoever finds the golden galleon must utter a magic verse if he wishes to master over it too. Wilbur can think of nothing more exciting than to be the next Grand Enchanter, so he sets off, with his tabby as his mate, to fulfill his dream. As Wilbur pretends to turn his boat to the wind in his living room, his chair becomes a skiff and the room around him, wide-open seas. Fitted with a captain's hat his mother sewed, Wilbur recites the spell and bravely heads off into the unknown, equipped only with a watering can, a broom, scissors and a corkscrew.
