When Agnezza the witch comes to the small village of Humburg after a long march through the winter snows, she is denied shelter at both the inn and the home of the village's wealthiest citizen. Cursing both, she next comes to the homes of the Tretters, who give her shelter and food. Unable to give them a blessing - that being the preserve of priests - she gives them a curse: the Curse of the One-Armed Man. Hurt at her actions, the Tretters eventually discover that this curse brings them their hearts' desire...

I quite enjoyed the story in Curse in Reverse, which appears to be author Tom Coppinger's sole picture-book, and I appreciated the clever way in which the Agnezza's curses came to pass. It was satisfying to see the greedy Mrs. Ragg and selfish Mr. Fooss get their just deserts, and the kind Tretters be rewarded. Dirk Zimmer, who also illustrated Joanna Cole's witchy picture-book, Bony-Legs, as well as Alvin Schwartz's In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories, contributes artwork that is colorful and humorous. Recommended to young fairy-tale lovers, and to picture-book readers who enjoy witchy fare. ( )

*SPOILERS* A witch is denied hospitality by an innkeeper and a rich homeowner and she curses them with the "curse of the silent night" and the "curse of the one-eyed jack," before a poor childless couple agrees to take her in for a night and feed her. In return for their hospitality she gives them the curse of the "one-armed man." All three households live in fear. Then the innkeeper is locked out of her inn by a silent knight and the rich man's house is destroyed by a one-eyed lumberjack. The couple is finally blessed with a child but live in fear of the curse. When the witch comes to call, she explains the curse was in reverse...the father is the one-armed man because he has to do everything with one arm while carrying the baby in the other.