They specialize in subversion, the toppling of established order, the overthrow of rules and order and all that is sacred. Scieszka and Smith are revolutionaries, if not nihilists, and they are really good at it.

Fables are the target here, but they are only poked fun at, not disemboweled, which undercuts the team's typical cruel nimbleness (and they even get a little formulaic--but only a little, and not painfully so).

But don't be surprised if you see readers filing their teeth into points after a session with this impious collection. "These guys are really nasty," said an eight-year-old, with a wide grin plastered on his face. But he also said, "Did Aesop really get chucked off a cliff?" though perhaps with more wide-eyed glee than curiosity.

The artwork is not a little sinister, passing strange and decidedly splendid in a dark sort of way, and Molly Leach's book design--as much a signature of Scieszka and Smith's books as their words and pictures--is outlandishly active and elegant.

The True Story of 3 Little Pigs, Math Curse, and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales are even better efforts from Scieszka and Smith, and interested parties should go to the source: Aesop's Fables (the version illustrated by Michael Hague is highly recommended).