The Devil's Other Storybook

I first read Tuck Everlasting in a children's literature course back in 1999. I enjoyed it so much I tracked down a few other books by Babbitt and enjoyed them just as much. This is a collection of short stories about the Devil. They read as moral lessons, much like Grimm's fairy tales. Each has a different point and purpose. It was a fun interesting book to read. I was never able to find a volume 1, The Devil's Storybook. (First written as Journal Reading Notes in 1999.)

...and like its predecessor, the author illustrated the front cover with the Devil sitting in a chair reading the book - except that on the floor beside him, this picture shows a copy of volume 1, as well as the copy of volume 2 open on his lap. :) He's still drawn in standard Mephistopheles mode, goatee, horns, tail, and all.Both books are very short, and each story has a kind of moral, but Babbitt has a light touch. Every story has 1 illustration, usually for a scene in which the Devil is trying to stir up trouble in the world, tempting people to make wrong decisions - and quite often having his plans go wrong."The Fortunes of Madame Organza" The title has a nice double meaning: Madame Organza was a fortuneteller who wasn't very good at her work, since she could never invent any stories but the same 3: meeting a tall dark stranger, going on a long journey, and finding a pot of gold. She couldn't make a living at it, and took in washing on the side under her real name of Bessie. Then by coincidence, a milkmaid who'd just started working in the neighbourhood and didn't know any better happened 1) to spend some of her first paycheck at the fortuneteller's, 2) to get the 'pot of gold' fortune, and 3) to find some robbers' loot. The Devil, hearing about this, decided to have a little fun by making *all* Madame Organza's fortunes come true for awhile."Justice" One of the few times the Devil's been surprised was when a rhinoceros with a bullet-hole through one horn suddenly appeared in Hell, looking impatient. Later that same day, a hunter called Bangs backed into a boa constrictor and showed up at the Devil's front gate, to be promptly told to catch the rhino. But he's not too happy at finding out that since guns don't work down here, he's going to have to catch it with a net - and he suspects he's probably the one who made the bullet-hole."The Soldier" is between wars, and on meeting the Devil in disguise, happens to start boasting of all the battles and wars he's seen."Boating" starts off by pointing out that Hell has four nice rivers inside the walls, with the 5th, the Styx, running around the outside like a moat. On the day the story opens, Charon the ferryman has asked for help since an awful crowd of people suddenly showed up, so the Devil decides to pass a little time running a second ferry."How Akbar Went to Bethlehem" Why the Devil no longer tries to keep camels, although he likes nasty-tempered pets as a rule, and used to have one named Akbar."The Signpost" A pair of mismatched sweethearts, who really aren't well-suited, will only marry each other if one will go to the other within a week and agree not to quarrel anymore. Then the Devil thought it might be funny to mix up the signpost at the crossroads between Woolfield and Argo so that the arrows pointed the wrong way, not knowing anything about the quarrel."Lessons" Columbine, unlike parrots who grew up among pirates, learned a very different kind of language living in a parsonage, and it

Just like The Devil's Storybook, The Devil's Other Storybook is full of funny stories about how the Devil's evil plans are always being spoiled. These stories are cute, fun, and entertaining, with the underlying moral that the Devil just can't win. I read The Devil's Storybook in elementary school, and had to purchase both books in college. Both are delightful reads!