A Princess With an Independent Mind Sets Off for a Magical New Adventure

Audio

“Dealing With Dragons.” 5 hours. Cassettes, $25; CD, $38. “Half Magic.” 3 1/2 hours. Cassette, $18; CD, $28. Listening Library/Random House Audio. Ages 8 and up. https://www.listeninglibrary .com/.

Of these two full-cast audio productions performed by the Words Take Wing Repertory Co. of New York, “Dealing With Dragons,” the action-packed, epic first book in Patricia C. Wrede’s “Enchanted Forest Chronicles” fantasy series, is the best. It features the feisty Princess Cimorene, who, eschewing royal marriage for adventure, runs away and takes a job as companion to one of several temperamental dragons. In addition to reading Latin scrolls, making chocolate mousse, polishing swords and turning away would-be rescuers, the princess finds herself plunged into all manner of adventures involving magic-stealing wizards, witches, spells, killer birds, magic feathers, magic crystals and treasure.

Throughout, Wrede’s colorful tale deftly mixes drama and smiles. One example: Cimorene’s answer when a genie offers to give her a choice in the manner of her death? “Old age.”

In “Half Magic,” by British writer Edward Eager, four fatherless children in 1920s Ohio--whose pet peeves are “unfairness and slyness”--find a magical charm that grants wishes with a catch: Only half of each wish comes true, until the children figure out the charm’s peculiarities.

The half-wishes lead to a gibberish-speaking cat, a living statue, an unintended trip to the desert, a ghostly transformation, and so on.

It should be more fun than it is, but the fussy-voiced narrator and the actors in the cast often have a labored touch, and portions of Eager’s tale, written in 1954, are cloying and dated by a smattering of ethnic stereotypes.

“All Wound Up! A Family Music Party.” Rounder Kids/Rounder Records. Cassette: $10; CD: $15. Ages 2 to 8. (800) 669-3942. https://www.rounder.com and https://www.cathymarcy.com.

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, a top-notch folk-singing duo for almost 20 years, team up with Brave Combo (Jeffrey Barnes, Alan Emert, Carl Finch, Bubba Hernandez and Danny O’Brien), the 2000 Grammy winner for best polka album, for some toe-tapping, sing-along fun. Their mellow vocals join fine accompaniment performed on an eclectic array of instruments that include guitar, hammered dulcimer, clarinet, saxophone, banjo, steel drums, accordion, trumpet and more.

The sound styles are varied too, from polka and calypso to rock ‘n’ roll and swing. “Paddy on the Railroad/Dance Your Way to Texas,” “Spaghetti (Twist and Twirl),” “Swing It, Baby, Swing!” are some of the appealing selections. Two highlights: “I Will Never Clean Up My Room,” by Marxer, in which a kid’s messy room becomes a public attraction; and “Chopsticks,” arranged by Finch in salsa style.