The Snapes various books of mazes gave hours of pleasure to me and my daughters when they were young and I enjoy them still: the pictures are full of imaginative detail, a frisson of fear and large helpings of humour.

The mazes are just tricky enough not to be able to gallop through but still solvable to youngsters without too much frustration - but with a ot of fun.

This book deals with magical creatures like fairies and genies while others will deal with places [the canals of Venice, channels through island archipelagoes and footpaths in the Alps] or 'monsters, like the mummy returning to his museum after a night on the tiles or a vampire wondering around his huge Transylvanian castle. Just a tiny bit scary but not really frightening at all.

Best of all for bibliophiles with limited budgets, the books were supremely affordable - 'cheap books' is an oxymoron in South Africa - at least they were back in the mid 90s, when I bought them. Have maze books gone out of fashion? I haven't seen them for years now so had better hang on to the ones I have so I can enjoy them with my future grandchildren! ( )