Saturday, February 04, 2006

THE DEVIL'S STORYBOOK -- Natalie Babbitt

Farrar Strauss Giroux -- hc
New York -- ©1974 -- 101pp
ISBN: 0-374-31770-4
illustrations by the author

A collection of short stories -- fables -- featuring the Devil.

"Wishes"
"The Very Pretty Lady"
"The Harps of Heaven"
"The Imp in the Basket"
"Nuts"
A Palindrome"
"Ashes"
"Perfection"
"The Rose and the Minor Demon"
"The Power of Speech"

These very brief stories were actually a delight to read. The come across as fables, each with a short moral. My daugher had requested the book from the library because she wanted to read as much Natalie Babbitt as she could, after watching Tuck Everlasting on television. My daughter, too, enjoyed these stories. It only takes about an hour to read through the entire book, but the writing flows nicely and most of the stories were quite enjoyable to read.