the aid of magical helpers. The opening of the collection begins with “The House with the Silver Door,” in which Silverboy and Silvergirl leave their forest home to find a silver door, receiving riddling guidance from a Wizard Squirrel, bargaining with the All-Alone Axe, and enlisting a Gentle Giant on the way to the Moon Lady’s Wonder Palace. Silverboy’s quest for spider silk to reach the moon leads to his capture by the Slippery Spider, but he is rescued—along with the Pearl Princess—by the Thoughtful Snail and Friendly Glowworm; joyous weddings follow, and the siblings ultimately bring their parents to a golden palace behind a shining silver door. The next tale, “King Hansel the First,” shows Hansel trying four roads, helping a cock, a cat, and some bees who each give him a seed and shrewd advice for answering giants. Captured by three monstrous brothers, he survives by giving the right answers, while the giants meet their ends through their own folly and the enchanted world’s aid. In a dungeon, Hansel and a captive magician use the seeds to conjure food, a knife, and chalk for a protective circle, rout the last giant, and uncover a treasure-filled castle—where the excerpt closes as they prepare to claim a new beginning. (This is an automatically generated summary.)