The Adventures of the Ingenious Alfanhui

This is the first English translation of a picaresque classic -- a children's fantasy

for adults-- written in 1951. The hero, a magical little boy, goes in search not of his fortune but of

knowledge. He meets a master taxidermist, who teaches him the trade. Alfanhui attempts

extraordinary experiments - making trees sprout feathers and creating birds that grow feathers

like leaves. When his house is burned down, he travels around Castile, learning about colors,

oxen, herbs, and other people: a lonely giant in a wood, a puppet who thinks he is a man, and his

own grandmother with her collection of mysterious locked trunks. This is a celebration of the

natural world through a boy's experiences.