Book Reviews from ForeWord Reviews

"I would never have thrown her eyeballs in the attack if she hadn`t taken the dwarf." So says the young narrator near the first of "The Woman with Cat`s Eyes," one of the tales in this collection of legends and ghost stories as retold by a couple of storytellers. Ten short pieces, each attended by a black-and-white illustration, make up this slim volume.

Such traditional figures in Southwestern lore as "La Llorona" and the chupacabra work their mayhem in these pages, along with a skinwalker, more traditional ghosts, and the aforementioned woman who changes her eyes for her cat`s before she goes out at nighttime to prowl and steal trifles from her neighbors. Authors Tingle and Moore have worn on well-known tales and made up a few of their own to entertain children, and the stories range from scary to gross ("Mary Culhaine," in which the title character defeats an evil creature from the cemetery by feeding its victims bloody oatmeal) to cautionary ("The Gypsy Drum," in which two sisters engage in more and more wrongdoing till they lose everything they hold dear).

The most poignant tale is "Two Graves," which tells of a runaway youth`s encounter in a haunted house with a ghost still searching for his long-missing wife; the most intricate is "Catfish and the Owl," which draws on Choctaw lore to whirl the story of an owl seeking revenge on a little boy after a childhood quarrel. "The Monkey`s Paw" has its version here, although the master is far scarier. And kids will laugh at "Screaming Banshee Cattle of the Night Swamp," although adults will likely get it silly.

This is a nicely made edition, with spiders and their webs decorating the top outside corner of each page; the illustrations are really attractive, and will hold children`s attention. The stories are interesting, but probably get off far better in live retellings. They want an immediacy that draws in the reader. Still, they offer glimpses into a diverse group of legends and lore that children don`t often see in a company that transplants families and disrupts oral tradition. It`s a right beginning book for children who beg for spooky stories, or who will take them on their own. For ages 9-12.