Many hands went into the making of this book, and some thanks are in order…

Firstly, many thanks to Anna McFarlane for embracing these tales, and giving them a home at Allen & Unwin. Thanks also to Elise Jones for her guidance and expertise honing the words until they were just right, and to Sandra Nobes for her keen sense of design and eye for detail.

Many thanks to Latifah Cornelius, who worked long hours lending her sharp inks to ‘Momotaro’, ‘The Devil Bridegroom’ and ‘Finn McCool’.

Thanks to Carole Wilkinson for generously lending her time and words in preparing the introduction to this book, and to Ted Naifeh for his wonderful endorsement.

Thanks to friend and fellow artist, Marcelo Baez, for creative input, valuable feedback and years of encouragement.

Thanks to Julie and Paul, and to Helena for generosity and support during the production of this work.

And thanks also to the Australian Society of Authors and the Australia Council for the Arts.