The Good Little Devil and other tales

‘There once was a giant… a fairy… a charming little devil… a potato…’ and the reader – or rather, the listener, for these stories demand to be read aloud – is captured and captivated. Pierre Gripari became best known for his collections of tales for children, especially Contes de la rue Broca (1967). It is these stories that have been translated here. Thank goodness they have, for they are such fun. Gripari takes the format of the traditional tale – indeed on occasion he is retelling an existing tale (The Fool and his Clever Wife for one) and creates narratives that combine reality with a surrealism that is perfectly logical. His stories have the same childlike appeal of Andersen; but unlike Andersen – or indeed many fairy tales – the cruelty is not there. Instead, there is humour, a love of the ridiculous  and a sense of justice that will appeal to a young audience, while adult readers will appreciate Gripari’s  ironic take on the world. Sophie Lewis has produced a translation that is immensely readable, capturing Gripari’s very distinctive voice while the original illustrations by Puig Rosado, and thankfully kept, compliment the text perfectly.This is a handsomely produced edition with well spaced text and attractive font making it even more appealing. It is to be highly recommended to all parents looking for stories to read aloud to the family, to teachers especially KS1 or to young readers with a sense of humour who are looking for something that is less demanding than a novel or who are developing reading stamina. This is a very welcome and long overdue, addition to the bookshelf, to stand next to the stories by Terry Jones and the late great Paul Biegel.