A Child's Shelf of Delight

SHREK! by William Steig (Farrar, Straus & Giroux; $10.95). At 83, cartoonist Steig is still among the very young at art. His latest work follows the adventures of a creature so gruesome that snakes get poisoned when they bite him. But fate is kind: one bad day he meets the most hideous princess in the kingdom, and they live horribly ever after. Just what he wanted -- and so will any reader who appreciates the flip side of a classic fairy tale.

THE FOOL AND THE FISH by Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (Dial; $12.95). Ivan is that classic Russian archetype, the wise idiot. When he catches a talking pike, it strikes a bargain: if Ivan casts it back into the icy water, his every wish will be granted. The result is riches, fame -- and problems. Gennady Spirin's paintings exhibit the palette of Russian icons and the surreal quality of Bruegel landscapes.

BENEATH A BLUE UMBRELLA by Jack Prelutsky (Greenwillow; $15.95). The poet laureate of childhood has found his ideal illustrator in Garth Williams. Here are enough amusement and instruction to last a lifetime. Sample: "I had a little secret/ that I could not wait to tell,/ I whispered it to Willa,/ who repeated it to Nell./ Nell had to tell Belinda,/ who told Laura and Lenore,/ I think my little secret/ is no secret anymore."

A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens (Stewart, Tabori & Chang; $25). This handsome edition preserves every word of the original; only Roberto Innocenti's pictures are new. And what appealing images they are: the materializing ghost of Marley; the affable Cratchits; Scrooge flying over the rooftops of London; and above all, Tiny Tim offering his eternally appropriate Christmas message: "God Bless Us, Every One!"

WAR BOY by Michael Foreman (Arcade; $16.95). A Briton makes the '40s home front seem as recent as last week. No horrors here, just a collection of strangely compelling trivia. When bombs went off, for example, they scattered seeds out of gardens. "The following spring and summer, piles of rubble burst into bloom. Marigolds, irises and, best of all, potatoes sprouted everywhere."

FISH EYES by Lois Ehlert (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; $13.95). Children first learn arithmetic with their fingers. Then they look around for some new things to number. How about fish? Here, paper collages create a vast aquarium of imaginary underwater swimmers: one green, two jumping, three smiling, etc. The flipping, flashy, finny, skinny specimens help the volume live up to its subtitle, "A Book You Can Count On."