For fantasy fans everywhere, a new hero has arrived - Gregor the Overlander. After his father's mysterious disappearance two years ago, Gregor faces adult responsibility. While his mother works, he must care for his two younger sisters, ailing grandmother and the household. All that changes when his two year old sister, Boots, tumbles down a chute in the apartment buildings' laundry room. Gregor goes after her and finds himself face to face with huge, talking cockroaches. It doesn't end there. The Underland, as it is called, is full of other amazing creatures, giant rats, spiders and bats. There are also people living there - people with translucent skin and violet eyes. People who claim that Gregor's arrival means that the ancient prophecy has come true and that he is the one destined to save these people from the fierce rats who threaten to take over the entire Underland.

And if you enjoy fantasy, you might try these titles as well.

Millions of Cats is the only American picture book still in print for over 75 years. It tells the simple story of a lonely old man and a lonely old woman who want a kitten to love. The old man walks over hills and through valleys until "he came to a hill which was quite covered with cats." The lines that follow are ones children have recited for generations: "Cats here, cats there, cats and kittens everywhere. Hundreds of cats, Thousands of cats, Millions and billions and trillions of cats."

It was the editor Ernestine Evans who saw Gag's one woman show at the Weyhe Gallery in New York and set Gag's career as a children's book author and illustrator in full swing. In 1928 when the book was published, it was one of the first times that a picture book for children included a double-page spread; that is, a story that moves forward with a scene stretching across two pages.

If you have not discovered this memorable picture book, check it out.

British author E. Nesbit wrote three stories at the turn of the century about the five Bastable brothers and sisters who have adventures while their father is seeking to regain his fallen fortune. In The Story of the Treasure Seekers, Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Noel, Alice and H.O. dig in the back garden hoping to find treasure. They also try to sell poetry they've written and become agents for a wine merchant. All attempts to make money end with hilarious results, mostly disastrous. All the while, they never give up, carrying on with endless plans.

In The Wouldbegoods, the second book in the series, the children are sent to the country to learn to be good. They form the Society of Wouldbegoods with friends Daisy and Denny, setting out each day to be helpful to others, but always getting in further trouble. In The New Treasure Seekers, the children attend Albert-next-door's-Uncle's wedding and set forth to help the less fortunate, stumbling with mishaps along the way.

E. Nesbit was a fascinating woman who remembered clearly what it was like to be a child and to seek adventure. She also knew what it was like to be poor, and to miss her father, who died when she was very young. She was frightened of the dark and mysterious places, but was drawn to them at the same time. The book Long Ago When I Was Young is a short autobiography about her childhood. She was born in 1858 and died in 1924. It was not until she was in her 40's that she experienced success as a writer with The New Treasure Seekers.

If you like the adventures of Harry Potter and want to read more books set in Britain about children who are ingenious in plotting schemes and creating imaginary worlds, you will love the books about the Bastables.