SMALL DEER'S MAGIC TRICKS
By
The familiar folklore motif of a small animal outwitting larger ones is employed in these four brief episodes featuring Little Deer--who lures a hungry tiger into her ""magic"" sack and manipulates a whole river full of mean crocodiles to function as a bridge for her. They're reliable old jokes, competently adapted--but Chwast's elfin-like Little Deer is just too girlishly arch, and Boegehold contributes no special panache to her shenanigans. (For example, Little Deer's tricking of Pig, Tiger, and Elephant to get her out of a deep hole is almost a detail-by-detail replay of the Maestros' Wise Monkey Tale, 1973.)