THE HEN THAT SAVED THE WORLD
By
.... And Other Norwegian Folk Tales says the subtitle. A collection of six tales retold with gentle humor and wonderfully illustrated with large, heavy lined Norwegian drawings of castles and forests and amused animals, by Per Beckman. ""The Bewitched Cat"" is a poor boy's only inheritance from his parents, but a fortunate one, as the cat helps him into the favor of a sad king and then obliges by turning into the king's long lost daughter, formerly bewitched by a troll; Bruin the Bear gains permanently short tails for his species when he bangs his long tail into an ice hole for fish; and in the Norwegian version of the hen and the end of the world, Penny and the rooster, Booster, escape the fox's wiles and get to Dovre mountain in time. Charming.