Best Bedtime Stories

Laurence Steven is a professor of English at Laurentian University and
author of Dissociation and Wholeness in Patrick White’s Fiction.

This book is an excellent addition to the bedtime reading shelf. It is a
collection of the best pieces to appear in the feature “The Bedtime
Story,” which originated with the Kingston Whig-Standard in 1991 and
has now been picked up by papers across Canada and the United States.
Friedman and Gilliland regularly ferret through the cultures of the
world for those stories with the telltale bedtime characteristics:
ghosts, tricks, jokes, morals, folk humor, dragons, talking animals, and
legends. In this volume, they’ve brought together 19 of them from
countries around the globe. We have a grumbling husband getting his
comeuppance in “The Cow on the Roof” (Wales); the trickster spider
having the tables turned on him in “Anansi Plays with Fire” (the
Caribbean); and the boasting rich man who meets his match in a wise
beggar in “The Lizard’s Sorrow” (Southeast Asia).

Friedman’s adaptations render the stories accessible and familiar,
with their standard “Once upon a time ...” or “Long, long ago
...” openings, and their strategic repetitions and breaks. In no way,
however, does she Disneyfy or sanitize these traditional tales. She’s
faithful to the originals in plot, characters, action, and moral
dimension. Gilliland’s illustrations are delightful; there are
black-and-white drawings on virtually every page, and a generous supply
of truly arresting full-color plates. This is the kind of book that gets
passed on to children and their children. Highly recommended.