MISS TURIE'S MAGIC CREATURES

Miss Turie attempts to lure a boy into purchasing a magical pet.

Miss Turie guarantees that she always finds a match for potential owners of her magical creatures. The beguiling pet shop boasts an assortment of mythological animals: a unicorn, a dragon, griffons, a kraken, a golem, a chimera, and more. After introducing this range of colorful potential pets to a child who rejects each one, Miss Turie seems out of options and at her wits’ end—and her customer shares her frustration. Nothing shocks Miss Turie more than when the brown boy with dark brown curly hair points to a sleeping creature. “It won’t fetch or give you hugs or greet you at your welcome mat. Its claws and fangs are dagger sharp!” she warns. The boy’s mythical creature of choice is a friendly and adorable, seemingly ordinary gray tabby cat. Before Miss Turie can mention a last caveat, the boy has happily purchased his new friend—which leaves a trail of rainbows, sparkles, and stars behind them. Backmatter provides an illustrated glossary of enchanted beasts and their countries of origin, with the last page prominently dedicated to the cat. The cartoon artwork is colorful and blithe, with the fabled beings possessing as much personality as the eccentric, brown-skinned, big-hair-don’t-care Miss Turie.

This exploration of ancient mythical creatures as potential pets satisfies with its double twist ending.