ALMOST TRUE

A delightful study in dog logic from a deceased Ukrainian-born Brazilian writer known for her adult novels and short stories.

First published posthumously in 1978, Lispector’s spellbinding work, translated and newly illustrated, begins with possibly the greatest opening ever: “Once upon a time…Once upon a time: Me!” “Me,” it turns out, is a personable pooch named Ulisses, whose tale meanders, mimicking the storytelling style of many young children. Good stories are about the journey, not the destination, and this one is no exception. Ulisses introduces readers to a series of characters, pausing to explain the origins of their names: the rooster Evidio (“The ‘E’ came from egg, the ‘vidio’ was just because he felt like it”), the hen Edissea (“The ‘E’ was because of egg and the ‘dissea’ was just because she felt like it”), the baker Eniria (“The ‘E’ in egg and the ‘niria’ because that’s how she wanted it”), and an evil witch named Exelia (“The ‘E,’ etc. etc., you already know all about that”) who devises a sinister plot to get all the hens to lay eggs all night long. Ulisses’ sudden turns will have readers giggling while they attempt to guess what could happen next. Irusta’s artwork is bold, smartly making use of the pages’ white spaces while spotlighting key moments. The font, reminiscent of a typewriter, is a hat tip to the book’s original era.

Ridiculous, of course, but in all the best ways possible.