Retold by a master storyteller who recalls each story from her North Carolina childhood, these five crackling traditional African American folktales about the crafty trickster Bruh Rabbit and his animal pals and rivals will get your listeners thumping their chairs with laughter. Bruh Fox believes there are roasted chicken legs in Bruh Rabbit's mystery bag, but all he gets is a beating. Goodhearted Bruh Possum learns the hard way that a snake is always a snake. (His lesson bears repeating: "No matter how good your heart, if you ever spot trouble, don't never trouble trouble if trouble don't trouble you.") Bruh Sammy the possum plays dead to get himself some groceries, and Bruh Rabbit sets his sights on marrying the king's daughter in "Looking to Get Married."
The lively language and big oil-and-acrylic paintings will get your kids laughin' and retellin' and comprehendin' and comparin'. Compare the first story, "Please Don't Fling Me in the Briar Patch," with other variants of the briar patch story, including Virginia Hamilton's Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl. Along with "Bruh Possum & the Snake," read Coleen Salley's possum folktales, Epossumondas and Why Epossumondas Has No Hair on His Tail. In Ananse and the Lizard by Pat Cummings, the trickster spider also plans to win the hand of a human chief's daughter.
What stories do you remember from your childhood? Sit back for a spell and think about it, and don't forget to tell them to your kids so they can tell them to their kids. You don't want those tales to die, do you? It's all up to you.
THEMES: ANIMALS-FOLKLORE. FOLKLORE, AFRICAN AMERICAN. FOLKLORE-COLLECTIONS. FOLKLORE-U.S. HUMOROUS FOLKLORE. MULTICULTURAL BOOKS-FOLKLORE. RABBITS-FOLKLORE. TRICKSTER TALES.
- The combination of trickster fun, historical truth, and personal storytelling tradition makes this a winner.
- Booklist
- Tate captures the personality of each of the characters, as well as the humor inherent in these stories. Varying perspectives keep the action moving. This excellent collection makes a great choice for reading aloud and will appeal to a wide audience.
- School Library Journal