Hey there, I'm Timbidermias, and this is NPR's Book of the Day.

Jenna Rose Nethercott loves writing about strange unusual creatures.

Some that exist, others that don't, but all have a story to tell.

And some of those stories are captured in her new collection, 50 Beasts to Break Your Heart.

It's a book of tales that steeped in magical realism and was inspired by medieval beastiaries,

folkloric tales about beasts and other creatures.

Nethercott spoke with NPR's Alyssa Nadwarny to talk about the book

and to introduce us to some of her favorite beasts.

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Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,

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According to Jenna Rose Nethercott, there are 50 beasts to break your heart.

Among them, maglets, easily taken in as pets.

They do a fine job with the dishes, licking china cups clean with their pronged tongues to stack in neat rows on parlor shelves.

Also, Arkelots. Fear the Arcalot. The house with knees. Fear its gait. Fear the insatiable lure toward restlessness.

And the blue-bellied Ibb. Ever since Ibs figured out how to use the phone, it's been prank calls day and night.

They're terrible jokesters because blue-bellied Ibs cannot lie. Instead, they'll ring you to tell it to you straight.

The recycling is all going to the landfill. If you'd kept practicing the fiddle, you'd be good by now instead of dreadful. That comb over isn't fooling anyone. One day, you too, will die.

50 Beasts to Break Your Heart is the title story in Jenna Rose, Netherkots,

strange, sometimes creepy, sometimes witty, new book.

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