A Bushel of Merrythoughts #[nn]

A Bushel of Merrythoughts collects four picture stories by Wilhelm Busch — "The Disobedient Children," "Ice-Peter," "Cat and Mouse," and "The Naughty Boys" — in a single Dover Publications volume from 1971. The vivid amber cover is a delightful menagerie of storybook chaos: a pink lobster brandishing a fork, a winged pig wearing a crown, a girl in blue being lifted by thorny vines, a gaping dragon-like creature, a rabbit, a rotund man clutching a platter, and a checkered deer, all woven together with ornate gothic lettering and scrollwork. It's a warm and wonderfully eccentric introduction to Busch's sharp-witted visual storytelling tradition.