#680 of 1001 · June 11, 2022

For a wickedly comedic caper, try The Devil & Mother Crump by Valerie Scho Carey and Arnold Lobel. An ill-tempered old baker woman named Mother Crump treats all around her with deep hostility. So disagreeable is she that she acquires a reputation for being “meaner than the devil”. When Lucifer himself hears this rumor, he comes to investigate, but he is quickly overpowered. To assuage Mother Crump, he grants her three wishes. She asks for the power to trap anyone who touches her flour barrel, her bread dough, or her birch tree. Armed with this malicious magic, she manages to overcome Death and all the Devils that come to try to collect her soul. Carey constructs a merry text full of slapstick misadventures; Lobel gives us devils and imps with equal parts humor and menace. A note for folklore enthusiasts: Carey does not include information on the source of her story, but the structure and motifs recall “Tia Miseria”, a folktale common to many Spanish-speaking countries. #devil #mother #baker #death #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