Henry R. Martin (1925–2020)

Bref retellings of traditional stories; I suspect they may be milder than the original versions as they all seem very happy, but I may be mistaken as I do not know the originals. They contain the usual components, princes and princes (and in this version tsars and tsarinas) evil stepmothers, honest peasant boys. One story about how a tsarina disguises herself as a harper to rescue her husband from the evil king of the Saracens suggests the story of Richard the Lionhearted and Blondel, or show more more distantly a reverse Orpheus. show less

I was disappointed to find that most of these were either made up from whole-cloth, or tweaked from the originals. A few were supposedly actual, but there was nothing to differentiate them from the made up ones. Amusing if you have a dark sense of humor. I will be keeping it for the cover illustration alone.

A quick, light little read with a few loud chuckles. Death, of course, is not a silly thing, but it can be made easier to bare by a joke or two. This book is filled with all the best grave stone jokes. This little volume is good for a quick laugh.

I've had this book since the 1990's. I love it. Short and sweet and funny.