PALMIERO AND THE OGRE

Strong, inventive drawings in shades of buff and blue set off a slight variation on the oft-told tale of The Table, the Ass and the Stick. In this Shortened, simplified Version, neither Palmiero, the foolish son, nor the benevolent ogre, has much personality, and Palmiero's revenge is too Swift to be fully savored, his success too easily gained to give satisfaction. Several of the illustrations are handsome in their own right, but en masse they tend to become rigid and repetitious and to overbalance a sprightly, if attenuated, plot.