THE MAGIC PORRIDGE POT

The story of the magic porridge pot gone out of control is an old favorite (and one of ours) and Galdone gives it an amusing twist by having the mother forget the magic words (frantically shouting "halt!" and "cease!" instead of "stop!" as the porridge flows down the village streets) and the little girl come to the rescue. There's no twist to the pictures though—they're workaday Galdone, with some child-level comic-book touches, such as a cat hanging from a tree branch to escape the rising river of porridge, but certainly without the overall eye appeal of De Paola's 1975 Italian version, Strega Nona. Ah well, some like it obvious.