Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession-then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists.

The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters. It's fun to read the pictures for details the words don't tell, but it's sometimes hard to see the smoke signals for all of Raskin's brilliant visual patterns. Thus Little Zeke, who has been telling his cousin all along that he smokes too much, is proven correct - and for his wisdom inherits all of Moe's wealth. McGlutch, a donkey whom they visit in his domed and minareted orange-red palace, there are elephant fire fighters (required by Moe's frequent smoking accidents), an elegant ram serving ice cream, a billowing fish monster and - in the same shades of green - a dragon, attracted by Moe's smoke rings, who eventually carries the donkey off. There are the vibrantly striped and colorfully attired zebra family Zack, Zelda Mae and Little Zeke, there is their rich cousin Moe Q. Instead of dressing up an anti-smoking message in comic clothing, Ellen Raskin outdoes the Victorian spoof, using Moe's dangerous habit as an occasion for pure farce - and for parading her stylishly flamboyant menagerie.

Moe q mcglutch he smoked too much