Jane Yolen: most important books

Jane Yolen is an author of children's books, fantasy, and science fiction. She is also a poet, a teacher of writing and literature, and a reviewer of children's literature. Her new book is Naming Liberty.

She told Newsweek about her five most important books. And addressed two related issues:

A book you hope parents will read to their kids:

James Thurber's "The Thirteen Clocks." This perfect fairy tale will get inside you from your guggle to your zatch.

A classic you revisited with disappointment:

L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." All I could see were the repetitions, the unvarying sentences and the paper-thin characters.

Read more about Jane Yolen's most important books.

--Marshal Zeringue