The Devil You Know

by Nathan Hale

Be careful what you wish for . . . The Fell Family has a small problem--a little devil that lives in their house. He does all sorts of bad things, and the Fells are fed up. When the prim and proper Ms. Phisto mysteriously appears and offers to remove the little devil and come take his place, the Fells are all too happy. But trading in one small problem for something else might just get you a very, very BIG problem. People often say, "You're better off with the devil you know than with the devil you don't." And maybe there's some truth in that. With wildly inventive illustrations, and zany humor, this picture book brings a familiar adage to life in unexpected ways.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 21, 2005

About the author

Nathan Hale is the New York Times best-selling author/illustrator of the Hazardous Tales series, as well as many picture books including Yellowbelly and Plum go to School, the Twelve Bots of Christmas and The Devil You Know.

He is the illustrator of the Eisner-nominated graphic novel Rapunzel's Revenge and its sequel, Calamity Jack. He also illustrated Frankenstein: A Monstrous Parody, The Dinosaurs' Night Before Christmas, Animal House and many others.

(He is not the author of Extinction Earth or the other apocalyptic titles listed. That's a different Nathan Hale. If someone with "librarian" status would disambiguate those titles for me, I'd appreciate it.)

Learn more at www.spacestationnathan.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fell family thought they had it bad with the little devil that infested the home they bought . . . until they traded him in for a demon of another color. This is pure evil fun, with AMAZING illustrations by the author.



For sheer entertainment, go straight to Hale.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a miracle that must be documented... My 5-year-old son sat through an entire book and actually listened to the story! This is just a fun story about a family who signs a contract to get rid of their troublesome family devil, only to receive something much worse in its place. I giggled at the story and marveled at the incredible illustrations. Every page has incredible detail that is just plain fun to look at. And again, the kids loved it. Worth every penny I spent!

[Brandi Frandsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any book that my seven year old (who dislikes reading) will read more than once deserves five stars. The illustrations in this book are great. The story is about a family who wants to be rid of the little devil who makes a disaster of their home. They sign a contact to be rid of him but end up with much worse. A great rendering of the idiom "Better the devil you know than the one you don't." My kids will be so sad when we have to return this book to the library.

[Jenn Mattson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Get this book! Love this book! An extremely original story with a spin on folk sayings like "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know" or "caught between the devil and the deep blue sea." Lovely, lovely pictures. Nathan is so clever!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you trade the devil you know for the devil you don't, you just might get burned!

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fun! Gorgeous, intricate drawings, great story!

[Katie Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Nate's art, and the details in this book are Nate Hale at his best.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning illustrations. Very cute book.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

You just have to read it yourself!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful picture book. Great illustrations.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love! We got it from the library. We will be buying our own copy.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be careful what you wish for . . .

The Fell Family has a small problem--a little devil that lives in their house. He does all sorts of bad things, and the Fells are fed up. When the prim and proper Ms. Phisto mysteriously appears and offers to remove the little devil and come take his place, the Fells are all too happy.
But trading in one small problem for something else m...moreBe careful what you wish for . . .

The Fell Family has a small problem--a little devil that lives in their house. He does all sorts of bad things, and the Fells are fed up. When the prim and proper Ms. Phisto mysteriously appears and offers to remove the little devil and come take his place, the Fells are all too happy.
But trading in one small problem for something else might just get you a very, very BIG problem. People often say, “You’re better off with the devil you know than with the devil you don’t.” And maybe there’s some truth in that.

With wildly inventive illustrations, and zany humor, this picture book brings a familiar adage to life in unexpected ways.(less)

[Emily Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grabbed this book off of the shelf with the controversial book assignment in mind and it did not disappoint! The story follows the Fell family and their struggles of getting rid of a little devil. This devil causes all kinds of problems for the family and completely trashes their house on multiple occasions. So when a green lady appears at their door and tells them she has the answer to their little devil problems, they go along with the plan. In the contract they signed it turns out that the green lady sent even more "helpers" to keep the Fell families home clean. They go a little to far and the family realizes they signed into something they really didn't want. I do not think that I would use this book in my classroom due to all of the references of the devil, even if he is a cartoon devil!

[orangerful · Rating 3 out of 5]

I checked out this book because I like Nathan Hale's art style and his Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy series.

It's an odd little folktale about a family that moves into a house occupied by a little devil. When the devil pushes them too far, they strike a deal with another demon to get rid of him. Of course, this backfires. A "careful what you wish for" tale. Young children who think they want a "scary" story with "devils and demons" might find this the perfect fit.

[Erin Reilly-Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one ended up being quite a fun little story with amusing illustrations. While as an adult, the sort of horrible tricks the devils played made me cringe, I think a lot of children would get a big kick out of this. I was also confused as to how Hale would be able to wrap up this story without slipping into something trite but thoguht the ending was great.

[Edwin Handler]

I found this book to be rather good. I like how they presented ms phesto as being a good deal and dramatically changed her once the small devil was gone. I liked the theme of not looking for the short cut to deal with your problems. I also really enjoyed the colors used and the style of illustration as well. Over all, I really liked this book.

[Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious. Also, useful in me explaining about imaginary and real devils. ;-)
the illustrations are rich and entertaining. The story is straight to the point and clever. Now, how do I get magicked away to Acapulco?

[Brenna's Kids Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute! Awesome illustrations! But little kids might be disturbed by the devils... They're kind of cute, but might scare a little kid

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and funny, better the devil you know!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those pictures books that is more for adults than for children and ome of the plot points don't make sense, but the illustrations are interesting.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard/read this tale before, but it certainly was memorable! Great illustrations too.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun lesson. A family trades a small problem for a bigger one because they didn't read the details. There is always something worse than what you've got. The pictures were a lot of fun as well.

[Alison N · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic cautionary tale gets a brilliantly illustrated retelling. Fun for families and readers who like their stories a little devilish.