The Devil's Storybook

There are more ways than one to view the Devil and his works. In this collection of ten original stories, Natalie Babbitt offers us a middle-aged Old Scratch with a tender ego, proud of Hell and anxious for his reputation; a plotter at once pompous and naive who has a way of losing as often as he wins. Nothing metaphysical here- this devil, rather, has an all-too-human nature.

Some of his adventures in the World (for instance, his run-in with Walpurgis, a talking goat) are good for a laugh. Some, like the story of the clergyman who finds a demon's baby on the steps of the church, will leave readers thoughtful.