#676 of 1001 · June 7, 2022

Have a look at Little Johnny Buttermilk, an English tale retold by Jan Wahl and illustrated Jennifer Mazzucco. A young boy selling buttermilk at the town market for his family is menaced by a witch, who sees him as a tasty treat. Each day, she stuffs him into her sack and drags him off toward her house, and each day he must outwit her by escaping the sack and replacing himself with something else—thistles and thorns, large stones, and finally the witch’s own fine china. Wahl presents a dramatic and entertaining text, which Mazzucco accompanies with zany, angular art. A note for folklore enthusiasts: In an endnote, Wahl recounts learning this tale from the grandmother of an English charwoman. A similar variant, Jack the Butter-Milk, can be found in Household Tales with Other Traditional Remains, a book of English folklore collected by Sidney Oldall Addy and published in 1895. #little #butter #milk #witch #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #classicchildrensbooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks