New Releases by IAN WALLACE

The kindness of a mother and her two children is repaid by a magician who arrives at Christmas.

A physical chemist (Fritz Haber), a photographer (Josef Breitenbach), a cabaret artist (Georg Kreisler), two writers (Otto Alscher and Albin Stuebs), a pioneering scholar in Irish-German studies (John Hennig) and a Celtic philologist (Julius Pokorny) are the focus of this volume. What they have in common is a biography fractured by the Nazis'' rise to power in 1933. Six were forced into exile; the life of the seventh, the Romanian-German writer Otto Alscher, shows that even the biography of a Nazi sympathiser could be dislocated by the years of dictatorship. As the previously unpublished letters which are reproduced here show, Fritz Haber, a Nobel prize winner, spent ''his last lonely months'' seeking a dignified way to leave the country to which he had once felt the deepest attachment. Although a prominent member of Germany''s academic élite, Julius Pokorny had to retire because of his Jewish ancestry in December 1935 and yet was allowed to continue publishing on ethnic themes until his exile in 1943. Albin Stuebs was forced to seek refuge in Prague and later England when his left-wing political convictions made him a certain target for the Nazis. Because of his marriage into a liberal Jewish family, John Hennig had to renounce all hope of an academic career in Nazi Germany and, after his exile to Ireland, struggled in straitened circumstances to support his family while at the same time developing into an unusually prolific scholar. Proof that exile may stimulate creative energy is provided by Josef Breitenbach, whose remarkable biography appears to show that loss and uprootedness may release otherwise undeveloped creative potential. Similarly, the flight of Georg Kreisler from Vienna in 1938 was the start of ''a remarkable voyage of discovery'' which saw him grow into a major, if consistently undervalued figure in the world of post-war German cabaret.

When a sculptor moves in to the farm next door, young Tom is inspired to become an artist.

Josh, newly come to the Yukon, sets out to investigate his friend Gabe''s story that Trapper Jack''s left big toe is in a tobacco tin behind the bar of the Sourdough Saloon.

For seven generations Duncan''s family has fished off the coast of Newfoundland. Now, the fish are gone and with them, the old way of life. Duncan notices that his father is spending the days staring out to sea, watching television and baking bread and pies. Many families have left town in search of work elsewhere. Even Duncan''s mother is beginning to suggest that they, too, join the exodus to the mainland. One day Duncan goes to visit his teacher, whose model train set sits on a Newfoundland-shaped board. As Duncan watches the miniature engines whizzing around the board, he is struck with a very original idea -- a way to combine his father''s newfound baking skills with his experience as a ship''s skipper.

James is following in his father''s footsteps, descending deep into the caves below the Atlantic Ocean off of Cape Breton to learn to be a coal miner. Even though James is considered old enough to go to the deeps, his mother cautions him to take care. Coal mining is dangerous work - and the only way his family can earn a living. Readers follow James down into the dark underworld, where he can hear the layers of rock shift around him. Will he survive his first day in the deeps? Beautifully illustrated with textured and shadowy acrylic paintings, Boy of the Deeps vividly illuminates and honors the lives of coal miners.

Detailed book about birds and there ways of life.

All Abigail wants for her ninth birthday is to go on a winter camping trip with her father and brother.

Classic story from the Grimm Brothers. Illustrated in Gothic surrealism.

The words to a popular song portray the custom of costumed visits made shortly after Christmas in rural Newfoundland.

Chin Chiang is fearful of shaming his family when he is scheduled to do the dragon''s dance on the first day of the Year of the Dragon.

Written by one of Australia''s best-known child psychologists, this guide provides practical advice on dealing with the problems that may arise when a child starts school. Sections covered include school preparation, getting to school, and problems in the classroom, the playground and with teachers. A bibliography and list of the computer software available for children is also included. Indexed.

Tired of the rats and the dismay conditions of their rented room, April Moth and Mr. Kneebone go in search for a new place to live.