Grade 6-9?This is virtually the only comprehensive work on werewolves for general readers written in the last 20 years. Like Nancy Garden's Werewolves (Lippincott, 1973; o.p.), it recounts legends and stories from America, Sweden, Norway, England, Ireland, Russia, Italy, Germany, Canada, and particularly France. Cohen, however, often goes into more detail than Garden. Her book, which is illustrated, also relates werebeast tales from Africa, China, Japan, and India, and provides a detailed index. Both titles suggest the rare disease of porphyria, which deforms sufferers and makes them extraordinarily sensitive to light; hypertrichosis (excessive hairiness); and hallucinogens frequently used in ointments as possible causes for belief in werewolves. Cohen also mentions hallucinations caused by a common grain fungus, ergot, as a plausible contributor to werewolf hysteria. While his volume lacks an index and illustrations, it does include an extensive bibliography; a critical guide to "ten great werewolf films"; and information about an active Internet newsgroup, giving his work the edge in current relevance.?Ann G. Brouse, Steele Memorial Library, Elmira, NY
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 5^-9. Display this book cover-forward and watch your circulation soar. Cohen's history of lycanthropy guides middle readers on a global tour of good and evil from sixteenth-century France to the present-day Internet. Quoting many long-standing werewolf sources, such as Baring-Gould's The Book of Werewolves and William Seabrook's Witchcraft, Cohen combines good history with fascinating storytelling as he traces the beliefs in werewolves and the reasoning behind their origins and continued presence. Although readers searching only for the scary story may come away frustrated and disappointed, others--prepared for the historical perspective--will finish the book chilled and enlightened. Fair warning: the longer-than-usual bibliography of werewolf sources will foster requests for further information, and the cinematography of 10 great vampire movies will trigger AV requests, Frances Bradburn
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