FABULOUS CREATURES

Originally published in Switzerland and translated from German, a gallery of mythical beasts, from the chimera to the Crodh Sith.

What stands out in this album of elusive animals, inspired by Warnecke’s sketches of images on ancient vases and plates housed at the Etruscan Museum in Volterra, Italy, is how many of the 19 creatures will probably be unfamiliar even to not-so-young audiences. The selections include the mythical Barong lion from Bali and the tarand, a reindeerlike creature that’s variously thought to dwell in Ethiopia or among the Scythians, along with the potentially better-known likes of the basilisk and griffin. The entries are decidedly multicultural and, according to the author, chosen to express not only our terrors, but also “our longing for wise creatures that protect good and punish evil.” The giant kraken Tumu-Rai’i Fenua of Aotearoa (New Zealand), for example, was tasked with teaching humans to live in harmony and grew so frustrated that it is said to have turned to stone. Some of the author’s broader claims, such as an observation that in India, unicorns are not white but red and black, beg for source references that aren’t provided. Still, her remarks are generally tantalizing enough to spur readers to do their own research. The illustrations are flat and stylized, but sinuous clouds, tails, feathers, flames, and tentacles give them both a distinctive look and a strong sense of graceful, undulating movement.

Offers a welcome focus on monsters more often misunderstood than malign.