Once Upon a Time in the Spring

"In Fairyland," by Richard Doyle, 1870

Generally this time of year brings one of my very favorite reading events — the Once Upon a Time Challenge, hosted by Carl V. Anderson over at his Stainless Steel Droppings blog and dedicated to reading works of fantasy, fairy tales, folklore, and mythology. I've participated (not always successfully, but you know...) in eight of those annual fests, and enjoyed every minute I devoted to them.

"Midsummer Eve," Edward Robert Hughes, ca. 1908

I've been expecting an announcement from Carl about this year's challenge/event, but so far nothing has appeared. So I'm guessing that after ten years of hosting, Carl has had enough. Which I can definitely understand. Still, I love reading those genres in the spring — just feels like a perfect match; so I'm going to continue the tradition on my own.
[UPDATE: I've noticed that on his Facebook page, Carl says he's on vacation and will announce the new Once Upon a Time event when he gets back to his blog. (Yay!) So it might become official any time now (Yay!)]

"A Midsummer Night's Dream: Titania and Fairies" ca. 1896

I might even end up with a reading of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream on Midsummer's Eve.  But even if I don't keep up with that tradition, I'm hoping to read at least a few works that would qualify for a Once Upon a Time event. I'm starting with one of Edward Eager's 1960s kids' fantasy novels — Magic by the Lake.

Cover art by N.M. Bodecker

And after that, I have quite a list of possibilities. Of course, I won't get to all of them; but I hope to read at least one or two of these from my TBR list:

• After Alice. Gregory Maguire 
• Beauty. Robin McKinley 
• Bedknob and Broomstick. Mary Norton 
• The Bell at Sealey Head. Patricia A. McKillip 
• The Boggart. Susan Cooper 
• The Book of Lost Things. John Connolly 
• The Box of Delights. John Masefield 
• The Children of Green Knowe. L.M. Boston 
• The City of Dreaming Books. Walter Moers 
• The Crystal Cave. Mary Stewart 
• The Foretelling. Alice Hoffman 
• James and the Giant Peach. Roald Dahl 
• The Magic City. E. Nesbit 
• Magic or Not?  Edward Eager 
• The Mennyms. Sylvia Waugh 
• The Mists of Avalon. Marion Zimmer Bradley 
• The Moon of Gomrath. Alan Garner 
• Mythago Wood. Robert Holdstock 
• The Neverending Story. Michael Ende 
• The Phantom Tollbooth. Norton Juster 
• The Princess and the Goblin. George MacDonald 
• Silver on the Tree. Susan Cooper 
• Solstice Wood. Patricia A. McKillip 
• Stuart Little. E.B. White 
• Tuck Everlasting. Natalie Babbitt 
• The Wind in the Willows. Kenneth Grahame 
• The Witches. Roald Dahl 
• A Wizard of Earthsea. Ursula K. LeGuin