La Diablesse and the Baby

Elisabeth Anne MacDonald-Murray teaches English at the University of
Western Ontario.

Richardo Keens-Douglas has become known as a lively teller of
fascinating stories. In his many stage, radio, and television
appearances he has charmed audiences with stories that are grounded in
“rich Caribbean oral folk traditions.” In this, his second
children’s book, Keens-Douglas re-creates for a reading audience some
of the distinctive flavor of his oral tales.

Set on a Caribbean island on a dark and stormy night, the story of La
Diablesse, while short and simple, is nonetheless riveting as it tells
of the strange creature who steals children and tries to get her hands
on the crying baby at Granny’s house.

The story, with its mysterious and threatening villainess, is
delightfully chilling; at the same time it offers the solid comfort of
the resourceful and wary Granny, and concludes with a quirky twist that
brings the tale from the long-ago-and-far-away to the here-and-now. The
lilting flow of an oral narrative is mirrored in the typesetting on the
page, which leads the eye to read this as blank verse rather than
plodding prose. Marie Lafrance’s lush artwork vividly evokes the
beauty and menace of a stormy night and the cosy, bright comfort of
Granny’s home. Highly recommended.