cover image A Dog's Tooth

A Dog's Tooth

W. W. Rowe, William W. Rowe. Snow Lion Publications, $12.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-55939-087-3

Rowe's (The Rabbit and the Tigerdile) rambling, clunky retelling of a traditional tale revolves around ""sneaky smart"" Osel, who brags to his ailing mother that he is such a good trader, he could sell ""foot-warmers in the hottest hell."" Though the weakening woman beseeches him to bring her a sacred relic before she dies, her greedy, selfish son gets so caught up in his dishonest business dealings that he forgets her request on three different trips to the marketplace. In his ultimate swindle, he passes off a tooth he wrested from a dog's skeleton as a relic for his mother. This deceit leads to an ending that most youngsters will find puzzling if not upsetting: After showing her the relic, Osel returns to his mother's house and finds no trace of her, ""just her clothes, in a rumpled pile, and her hair and nails."" Rowe's dense prose is occasionally ill suited to his targeted audience: unaware that her son bears a phony relic, the deceived mother ""made prostrations to it.... She circumambulated it."" Meanwhile, readers may find Banigan's composite art, a curious hodgepodge of photographs and drawings, jarring and inconsistent. For example, Osel looks like a young boy, even though he is prone to staying out late ""drinking beer, singing, and dancing with the prettiest girls in the village."" If there is something to be learned from the parable, it gets lost here. Ages 5-13. (June)