- The Tortoise and the Hare Race Again
Three kids who want to be something different, a quirky alien who feeds on curious human children, and a crafty shoemaker attempting to best the devil are each protagonists in these five stories of transformations. Many of the stories offer intriguing examples of children's growth and learning, demonstrated through exaggerated external transformation: one of the most subtle lessons in appreciating things as they are appears in "Bored Tom," a darkly humorous story of a young man who switches places with a cat only to find that being bored as a feline is much worse than being bored as a human. The theme is sometimes overstretched, though (the closest things to transformation in "Curious" are disrobing and being eaten), and heavy-handed moral messages that one should appreciate one's given form and treat everyone else with respect undermine the humor and appealingly creepy tone. Despite the drawbacks, the spooky fun might make these stories useful quick reads or even readalouds in a classroom or library program.