cover image The Enchanted Raisin

The Enchanted Raisin

Jacqueline Balcells. Latin American Literary Review Press, $11 (104pp) ISBN 978-0-935480-38-2

The stories in this collection range from humorous to melodramatic to embarrassingly plain. The title story, about three ``absolutely incorrigible children,'' has many funny moments, especially when the children--three boys--wear their mother out until she shrivels into a raisin. In ``The Princess and the Green Dwarf'' readers will face--with a princess--some of the most undesirable princes in children's books. However, the language in the translation is occasionally jarring, and the illustrations are grossly amateurish. At best, the offering is mediocre. No ages given. (Apr.)