A clever and hard-working farmer manages to outwit a goblin in this folktale from England's Northamptonshire, splitting his crop with his opponent three times, and managing to come out with the better part of the bargain in each case. The drama begins when the farmer, never having understood why his west field had to law fallow - a custom inherited from his father - decides to cultivate it, and is immediately confronted by the goblin, who demands his crop. Convincing his adversary to take half of the crop (but to allow him to do all the work), the farmer plants corn when the goblin demands the bottoms, and carrots when he chooses the tops. But when, having grown tired of being bested, the goblin instead divides the field itself into two halves, and states that whoever finishes harvesting their share of the crop first will get everything, it looks like the farmer's luck has run out. Or has it...?

This tale type, in which a farmer tricks some sort of supernatural opponent - a goblin, a devil, a troll - in a game of choice, can be found in many traditions the world over. It is tale type 1030, "Man and Ogre Share the Harvest," in the Aarne-Thompson folklore classification system, and is similar to the Brothers Grimm tale, Der Bauer und der Teufel ("The Peasant and the Devil"), amongst others. This picture-book presentation of the English variant of the story, published in 1970, is engaging, and the artwork (watercolor, I think?) appealing, in a vintage way. I do wish that Conger had given some indication of her source material, as the only indication that this tale comes from Northamptonshire, is to be found in the dust-jacket blurb. Leaving that issue aside, Tops and Bottoms is an engaging little book, one I would recommend to young folktale lovers, and to fans of illustrator Imero Gobbato. ( )