Wizard at Work, by Vivian Vande Velde, 2003

All the wizard wants is a quiet summer of fishing and gardening, but no, people keep insisting he solve their problems, and so the longsuffering wizard is summoned to every end of the kingdom in this episodic, fractured fairy tale novel. You just might learn the real story behind some tales you thought you knew. The understated, wry wizard is superb. Smart, funny, recognizable yet new, every tale is surprising but right, and carefully woven into the theme of the whole. For young middle grade up through advanced dementia, strongly recommended.