Almost True

“Once upon a time: me!” announces the narrator of this tall clever tale about a talking dog named Ulisses, his owner Clarice, a rooster named Evidio, a hen named Edissea, and a greedy fig tree. The narrator is none other than Ulisses the dog, and his story really gets started when a bad witch named Exelia floats into town disguised as a black cloud. The fig tree wants to get rich quick—and with the witch’s help, she hatches a dark plan to make Edissea and her fellow hens lay eggs all night long. But the plan backfires when the birds cluck and crow around the clock in protest, driving the fig tree to distraction.

In this madcap story by Clarice Lispector, one of the foremost writers of the twentieth century, animals are the master storytellers and the prime movers. As in a Rudyard Kipling Just So story, they help explain the mysteries of the world, such as why birds have no teeth. But dogs don’t know everything—for instance, how do you eat the fruit of the jabuticaba, the Brazilian grapetree? “You, kid, ask a grownup,” concludes Ulisses. Lispector's story is perfect for ages 5 to 9 years old.