Jolly Bedtime Tales for Big & Little People

Jolly Bedtime Tales for Big & Little People is a collection of ten delightfully wicked stories dealing with the fortunes and misfortunes of the pseudonymous author's family members. Not since Slovenly Peter have naughty children (and heedless adults) been so expertly skewered, beginning with the hilarious history of "The Little Boy Who Blew His Legs Off," which never fails to elicit uninhibited laughter from juvenile audiences, despite what some prudish adults may think of it. Other tales include the "Curious Case of Crybaby Christopher," who screams so hard that, in a reversal of the Pinocchio legend, he turns into a girl; the equally metamorphic mystery of "Princess" Nina, who goes in search of a frog prince and gets more (or less, depending on one's viewpoint) than she expects; and the unsettling story of Grandma Hartley, whose dining on Santa's favorite reindeer Rudolph has such cataclysmic results. As for Grandpa Hartley, after enduring all this and more with his customary forbearance, he is carried by great Zeus himself to the summit of Mount Olympus, where, as a reward for his career on earth, he is restored to eternal youth and becomes the intimate companion of Aphrodite. These and all the other tales in the collection are illustrated with the sly watercolors of the artist John Bobbish, and the book begins and ends with two brief poems by Grandpa. Although not always "politically correct," Jolly Bedtime Tales for Big & Little People-as its title promises-is aimed squarely at fun-loving "children of all ages."