The children in these stories have one thing in common—they are all young witches or warlocks. They all have amazing powers, which some use for good and some for their own dark purposes. Some of the children are playful and mischevious and limit themselves to simple, lighthearted pranks. Others are more ruthless, and their abilities are bent toward cruelty and destruction. Others change the course of history by merely dreaming.

Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh have selected stories by Elizabeth Coatsworth, Zenna Henderson, and Ray Bradbury, among others, about some very unusual young people. These ten stories are full of mystery and magic, certain to amuse, delight, and perhaps terrify the reader.

This is a reasonably pleasant anthology, although its Asimov-related content is basically nil beyond the introduction. It’s dominated by Robert Arthur’s “The Wonderful Day” and William M. Lee’s “A Message from Charity.” The other stories may not be quite as good as these, but they‘re not unpleasant themselves. (One supposes that “The Witches of Karres” is considered a little too advanced for this age group, or perhaps a little too long.)

This is a nice book to hand on to a younger reader.