Good Resources on Mythical Creatures

[Susannosaurus]

I'd love to read a good book on mythical creatures, but I tend to find mostly children's books or else not-so-intruiging encyclopaedias. Can anyone recommend a good book on mythical beasts which is neither too superficial nor dry? (The place of origin of the lore doesn't matter.) I've read The Penguin Book of Dragons, but it was just a collection of dragon stories without any explanation of dragon properties etc.
Thanks

 

[Mad Swede]

I've never come across a single book which covers mythical creatures in a readable way. Some books mention a few such creatures. One of the issues is that mythical creatures vary by region, by country and sometimes even by locality within a country. Mythical creatures can also be separated by language and even by dialect, in that the same creature can have different names in different countries and sometimes within a country. So you'd need to find several books covering different regions if you want information about as many creatures as possible.