Gift ideas -- art, literature, books for children; Andersen -- beautifully retold; The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Andersen, retold by Amy Ehrlich, pictures by Susan Jeffers.New York: The Dial Press. 40 pp. $12.95. (Ages 8-10.)

Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale is delightfully retold by Amy Ehrlich. The two children, Kai and Gerda, are very good friends until Kai is pricked in the eye by a sliver of glass from the devil's mirror. Then he can only see and do wrong. Not much later, he is lured away to the Snow Queen's frozen country. Gerda, distressed by Kai's absence, decides to search for him. Susan Jeffers's delicate pastel illustrations take readers into a winter fairyland of downy snowflakes and white horses pulling sleighs to complement this delightful story.