The author of the Stories to Solve series turns again to his extensive knowledge of folktales. Here, short, lively folk stories are used to challenge the reader to untangle the truth from situations in which characters make snap judgments or are cleverly misled. A flip of the page unmasks the trick or, as Shannon would call it, the lie. Good source notes are provided, and John O'Brien's free-wheeling black-and-white sketches nicely catch the comedy inherent in the scenarios. Kids will certainly have fun using this on their own; teachers will like it, too, as a way to enliven a lesson, as a means of getting students to think about the meaning of truth, or alerting kids to the power of words and the ease with which their meanings can be manipulated. (Reviewed May 15, 1997)