Birthday Reviews: John Bellairs’s “The Pedant and the Shuffly”
Art by Marylyn Fitschen
John Bellairs was born on January 17, 1938 and died on March 8, 1991. He is best known for his novel The Face in the Frost. Most of his focus was on young adult fiction, including the Anthony Monday series, the Cubby Lewis Barnavelt series, and the Johnny Dixon series. After Bellairs’ death, Brad Strickland wrote novels in the Barnavelt and Dixon series.
Occasionally Bellairs turned his attention to short fiction. His short story “The Pedant and the Shuffly” was originally published as a stand-along book in February 1968 with illustrations by Marylyn Fitschen. Mythopoeic Press reprinted it in 2001 and it was included in the NESFA Press Bellairs omnibus Magic Mirrors in 2009. Both reprintings included Fitschen’s illustrations.