The fourth in Frances Lincoln's new series devoted to world folklore (following upon Ghaddar the Ghoul and Other Palestinian Stories, The Prince Who Thought He Was a Rooster and Other Jewish Stories, and A Fistful of Pearls and Other Tales from Iraq), The Dragon of Krakow presents seven entertaining folktales from Poland.

First, of course, is the eponymous The Dragon of Krakow, concerning good King Krak, and how a dragon threatened his new city. I was already familiar with this tale of a kind king and a clever shoemaker, having read Janina Domanska's lovely picture-book retelling, King Krakus and the Dragon.

The Amber Queen concerns a doomed love affair between Jurata, Queen of the Baltic, and a humble fisherman. Like many such tales, this was used to explain a natural phenomena, in this case, the preponderance of amber along the Baltic coast.

The Gingerbread Bees explains why the town of Torun produces such wonderful gingerbread. The story of a gentle young baker's apprentice, who likes to spend his time gathering wildflowers for his love, it utilizes the time-honored motif of "a good deed rewarded."

The Golden Duck of Warsaw concerns a poor young shoemaker's apprentice named Janek, who learns that wealth is not a blessing, unless it can be shared.

Mountain Man and Oak Tree Man tells the story of two giant brothers who slay a dragon, and win sister princesses as their reward. It is an example of a tale involving feral children, as Mountain Man and Oak Tree Man were raised by a bear and a wolf.

Neptune and the Naughty Fish explains the appearance of the plaice, who weren't always flat...

And finally, The King Who Was Eaten by Mice tells the rather gruesome tale of greedy King Popiel and his equally greedy wife, Queen Kunegunda, and how they were eaten alive by an army of mice.

I enjoyed this collection immensely, probably the most out of any of the collections offered thus far in the series. The tales were engaging and the black & white illustrations, by Paul Hess, were appealing. I was pleased moreover, to see a new collection of Polish folktales available, as I do not think one has been printed since Zoe Zajdler's book for the World Fairy Tale Collections, back in 1959. My only complaint would be that there are almost no interesting female characters, with the notable exception of Jurata. Plenty of plucky young apprentices, but no brave or clever young girls. ( )