At one point, the Sandusky plant employed 500 people. Kropf describes how his family’s crayons were produced and promoted - through coloring contests, for example - and how a focus on art materials for school classrooms led to its acquisition of Prang watercolor paints. The American Crayon Company, in Sandusky, Ohio, was established in the 19th century by members of Kropf’s family, becoming the longtime rival of Binney & Smith, purveyor of the more familiar Crayola brand crayons. Kropf’s “ Color Capital of the World: Growing Up With the Legacy of a Crayon Company” (University of Akron Press) interweaves corporate history with family memoir. Harmon’s “Trumpets of Freedom” reassembles characters from “ The Lighthouse at the End of the World,” then adds steampunk robots and that aeronautical buccaneer, Robur the Conqueror. One afternoon in Chicago, he meets an enigmatic young woman who reveals the earthshaking truth about the gigantic cave man he briefly glimpsed so long ago. Walker’s “The Dominion of all the Earth,” the now-aged Axel Lidenbrock, from “ Journey to the Center of the Earth,” is touring the United States giving lectures about his descent into our planet’s interior. Chosen from a competition sponsored by the North American Jules Verne Society (of which I am a member), the 13 stories derive from, or pay homage to, some of the French writer’s best- and least-known works. Any fan of “ Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” or “ The Mysterious Island” - whether the books or the classic adventure films - should grab a copy of “ Extraordinary Visions: Stories Inspired by Jules Verne,” edited by Steven R.

Tales of shakespeare charles lamb