Fearsome Folk Tales

It is never pleasant to reach down between sofa cushions to the realm of crumbs, pen caps and lost nickels. How much more squeamish we may be after reading “Margarash” (Enchanted Lion, 48 pages, $17.95), an engagingly offbeat picture book by Mark Riddlethat reveals the existence of a vast domain beneath the springs of all couches, everywhere. Illumined only by pinpricks of light from pillow gaps, it is roamed by the ferocious, coin-collecting fiend Margarash. In goofy and dramatic pictures (see above), Tim Miller captures the descent into this land of a young coin-fancier named Collin, his tussles with the toothy monster, and the odd fellowship that develops between them.