SCIENCE FICTION. Step inside Mr. Elives' magic shop, where the shelves are stocked with strange and mysterious goods. The children in these five books each leave the shop with magical items intended especially for them. In "The Monster's Ring, " Russell Crannaker, bullied all his life, gets a chance to fight back when he is given a monstrous magical item. In "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, " a boy gets a small marbled dragon's egg--and when it hatches, his wildest dreams take wing. In "Jennifer Murdley's Toad, " a girl "in a plain brown wrapper," buys a talking toad who knows a thing or two about the true nature of beauty. Ages 9+