The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths

Gr 2-5–Broadly representing the whole country of Switzerland, these 23 tales each begin with naming the place from which they come. For example, “The Goblin Who Wanted to Get Married” opens with the line, “By nature goblins are shy creatures, but not in the canton of Zug.” Sometimes these unfamiliar names make a halting start for U.S. readers in this country. Billed as myths, these are really local legends featuring ghosts, fairies, the Devil, and other assorted folktale creatures and tropes. The wicked stepmother gets her just deserts, and some curious or greedy folks will disappear in various ways. Honed a bit to make them sound contemporary and smoothly narrated in this translation, the stories each play out in three to five pages of text. They aren’t very dramatic or scary. Still, there’s fun and familiarity, too, in some of them. The maiden the goblin plans to marry escapes by guessing his name. An old billy goat gets rid of the Devil, and cats, snakes, and fireflies are among the animal players. In parallel to the distinct locations, each tale has been illustrated in color by a different artist. All have one or more small views and at least one that fills a page while several include handsome spreads. In addition to an Editor’s Epilogue, there’s a concluding set of artist profiles.