The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pickney

Jerry Pickney retells the original Aesop fable, The Lion and the Mouse. In his first wordless book, Pickney tells the story of a mouse, who, both exchange acts of kindness for one another.

"It did not start out, the intent was not for it be be wordless. As a matter of fact, I thought that this story was so clear in my mind that I would actually start the process of doing thumbnail sketches then adding the text later. So the story is visually narratively driven, and I think that's what you find in it. Not only telling the story of the lion and the mouse, but also the story of what attracted me to the Serengeti, the African Serengeti."
(http://www.readingrockets.org/)

Pickney's illustrations clearly demonstrate his wealth of knowledge of the Serengeti. His carefully sequenced images of the characters develop the closeness of their relationship, as the close-up images that are seen throughout note the lion and mouse as the protagonists of the story, as they appear to be realistic. In an author's note, Pickney explains that he set the story in the Serengeti, "with its wide horizon and abundant wildlife so awesome yet fragile, not unlike the two sides of each of the heroes."

Pickney's pencil work, coupled with the watercolor images create a characters that fit well into its surroundings, while also using perspective to see the Serengeti through the mouse and lion's eyes. The interview from Reading Rockets continues, "I wanted them to be anthropomorphic, but in a way that suggested the true nature and the character of a lion, and a true nature and a true character of a mouse. And in doing so I had to straddle a fence making them respond in a kind of natural way, but the reader to understand what they were responding to."

The symoblic meaning behind the lion and the mouse is something that is valued by this popular tale. "The lion, while strong and powerful, does not harm the small, defenseless mouse after it scurries away from an owl. In return for this kindness, the mouse comes the rescue of the lion by chewing through the roped snare that captured him. As many fables have a moral, in the story of the lion of the mouse the reader does not know why the lion lets the mouse free or why the mouse saves the lion by setting him free." Perhaps, it's the acts of kindness and the actions represented in the pictures that becomes the moral of this popular, and thought-provoking fable.

Although this was a retelling, Jeff Pickney's version of this tale forced me to re-evaluate my own knowledge of fables. It is amazing how a wordless book can drive the story right out of its illustrations. The ability to interact with the text between a teacher and a student or a mother and a child is the beauty of what resonates from these types of storybooks. And it will be a storybook and lesson that a child will live by, and never forget.

Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection by F. Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada

Tales Our Abuelitas Told, is a mixture of twelve popular tales celebrating the Hispanic culture and is many roots-Indigenous, African, Arab, Hebrew, and Spanish. Authors F. Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada retold each of these stories that capture the heritage, emotions, and spirit of Latino people around the world. An introduction or "welcome" provides background information to the reader about folktales, their origin, and the influences that each have had on their lives. The authors also include the opening and ending lines of how these tales traditionally begin in the Spanish language, while writing the Spanish version and English-language equivalents in the sections, "To Begin a Story" and "To End a Story."

Examples:

Beginning: Habia una vez... Once upon a time..

Ending: ...y se acabo lo que se daba (and that is the end of all that has been told)

After each tale, the authors give background information about how the tale was derived and any other variations of the story that exist, along with any connections that they have to the story itself. Subject matter includes magical bandpipes, flying horses, talking ants, etc. In some cases, like many folktales, a moral is emphasized.

The authors note throughout the book that most of these stories were heard by them as children from their own grandmothers or "abuelitas." For example, "The Bird of One Thousand Colors" is a story that was told to Ada when she was a little girl, but she had never found the original source. She credits her grandmother, Dolores Salvador Mendez, who passed it on to her. Other stories were merely discovered throughout their research in writing the collection. Variations and changes in stories are also a result of transformations in oral retellings that occur between different cultures and areas of the world. Campoy and Ada note in their welcome that "many of the stories originated from in Spain, a land that has been a cultural crossroad throughout history. Since Spain is geographically close to Africa, it has served as a bridge between the continents of Europe and Africa, receiving influences from both and generating its own unique cultures." For example, in the story, "Dear Deer! Said the Turtle" (reminscent to "The Tortoise and the Hare) Campoy notes that this well-known story has gone through numerous transformations in its travels back and forth across the Atlantic. In the version found in Cuentos populares de Espana, the race was between a rabbit and a hedgehog, who, with the help of his wife, outwits the rabbit. The version told in The Tales Our Abuelitas Told comes from the Cuban oral tradition, with African elements. "The Castle of Chuchurume" is a story, similar to the English folktale "The House That Jack Built" and the African folktale, "The Great Rain on Kapiti Plain," with their cumulative verse. Instead of using the elements of a house, which is found in most versions, the authors substituted it with a castle, following the lead of the title given to this Mexican version of a nursery rhyme.

Sporadic, colorful illustrations by Felipe Davalos, Vivi Escriva, Susan Guevara, and Leyla Torres depict the humor and wit within the text of each folktale. Torres notes at the back of the book that she was inspired by the memory of the mountains, growing up in Bogota, Colombia, and the colorful clothes that women wear in the village markets. Guevara stated, " in this book I wanted to paint the giant threat of an angry, lazy wolf and the fiesty dance of a wily she-fox. I wanted to paint the flat, unreal appearance of color in the moonlight. I think these images have their roots in the magical realistm born out of Latino writing." It is clear that even the illustrators have brought in their own perspectives and experiences into their paintings, while creating their pieces of artwork for each folktale.

Tales Our Abuelitas Told demonstrates the power of storytelling and how folktales have evolved over time. Many are unknown of origin or have been simply passed down from word of mouth. Ada and Campoy captured the essence of tradition, heritage, and remembrance of the stories their abuelitas told them as young girls. I feel that this collection will make a great addition to my classroom library, as well as serving as a comparison for my students in the nursery rhymes and folktales that were passed on by our own ancestors.

A Nandi Tale: Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema

The great Kapiti Plain, once flourishing with a "sea of grass" enough for giraffes to browse on and herdsmen to pasture their cows on, is devastated by the lack of African rains. The sea of green grass soon becomes brown and dead, "needing the rain from the cloud overhead" as the larger animals begin to migrate. The big, black cloud, all heavy with rain, that shadowed the ground on Kapiti Plain. But Ki-Pat, a herdsman, ingeniously brings the rain down to the plain with a bow and arrow that pierces into the dark rain cloud above. In the end, the grass grew green again, and Ki-Pat got a wife, and a little Ki-Pat who tends the cows now, shoots down the rain, when black clouds shadow Kapiti Plain.

In the note at the back of the book, I discovered that author Verna Aardema is a highly acclaimed storyteller and the author of many books of African folktales. "This tale was discovered in Kenya, Africa more than seventy years ago by Sir Claud Hollis, a famous anthropologist. He camped near the Nandi village and learned the native language from two boys. He learned riddles and proverbs from the Nandi children, and most of the folktales form the Chief Medicine Man. This tale reminded Sir Claud of a cumulative nursery rhyme that he loved as a boy in England, "The House That Jack Built." So he decided to call the story "The Nandi House That Jack Built" and included it in his book "The Nandi: Their Language and Folklore, published in 1909. Verna Aardema has brought the originial story closer to the English nursery rhyme by putting in a cumulative refrain and giving the tale the rhythm of "The House That Jack Built."

Aardema's repetitive phrase "that needed the rain from the cloud overhead--the big, black cloud all heavy with rain, that shadowed the ground on Kapiti plain" is found throughout each of the story's rhythmic plot. Each event occurs, the text builds upon one another, similarly in The House That Jack Built. The rhyming scheme and predictability allow for readers to closely follow the adventure and challenge that awaits Ki-Pat throughout the duration of the drought. The illustrations by Beatriz Vidal demonstrate the types of diverse animals that live in Africa, such as cows, giraffes, lions, rhinos, zebras, antelope, buffalo, cheetahs, leopards, etc. The culture, appearance, and tradition of the Nandi people are also touched on in this story, and can provide the opportunity for further research into this part of Kenya.

Reading Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain allowed for me to further evaluate lack of exposure to multicultural literature, especially folktales. Having read The House That Jack Built, this African folktale gave an interesting and unique twist to the English nursery rhyme, while also keeping true the Nandi traditions. Despite differences in folktales within the world, these oral traditions continue to be passed down from one generation to the next, while readers remain entertained and take away a valuable lesson or morale from the story. And just as little Ki-Pat did, too, tends the cows on Kapiti Plain, after being guided by his father by his own experiences and stories.

Walt Disney's Cinderella by Cynthia Rylant

Cynthia Rylant's Cinderella is the version of the popular tale that I became familiar with as a child, and still am fond of as an adult reader and educator. Although the predictability and storyline is already known, Rylant's language captivates the reader as we feel truly sorry for how she is treated by the evil in her life. Rylant expresses the differentiaton between "light" and "dark," similarly as Kate DeCamilo expresses in The Tale of Despereaux.

Dark (Evil): Wicked Stepmother and Stepsisters ~ "Like roses, which do not bloom across doorways, Love itself did not ever linger."

Light (Good): Who can say by what mystery two people find each other in this great wide world?"

Rylant also capitalizes the word "Love" as if giving it human characteristics, and comparing it to a force that brings Cinderella and the Prince together. ~ "In silence, Love found them."

Mary Blair's illustrations are images full of color that also depict the mood and tone of the story. The simplicity of the images coupled with use of earthtones and subtle color combinations add to the wonder and excitement of this worldly-known tale.

Cendrillon, A Caribbean Cinderella by Robert D. San Souci

Cendrillon, A Caribbean Cinderella, written by Robert. D. San Souci, is a story that is "loosely" based on the French Creole tale. Told from the perspective of the grandmother's point of view, the story is told of a young woman who wishes to attend the ball of Monsieur Thibault. The plot contains the typical elements of magic that many Cinderella tales include, and as predicted, Cendrillon was reunited with her Prince, married, and lived happily ever after.

Cendrillon incoporates words and phrases from the French Creole language. For example, the carriage was made from a fruit a pain, a breadfruit, and the carriage attendants were magically transformed from manicous, opposums. The author included a glossary at the end of the book which was helpful, however the colorful and detailed illustrations of Brian Pickney aided in the comprehension of the French Creole language.

San Souci did note, to my surprise, that that in island Creole, "Cinderella" would be written out "Sandriyon" through pronounced the same as Cendrillon;" and "Monseieur" would be "Missie." It made me wonder just exactly why if this was the Mer des Antilles (Martinique)version, that the author would not use the spellings known to this particular language of this Caribbean island. This makes it all the more important to investigate other Caribbean folkates to note the similarities and differences, and form conclusions based on a variety of literature.

Pickney's illustrations of oil pants contain colors bold and vibrant of the Caribbean culture. The full page bleeds include one larger illustration and blends into the next page with the text and bordering images, creating a flow of events from one page to the next.

Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal, A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman

Author Paul Fleischman's Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal, created a text that embraced the varying"versions" of the classic fairy tale, Cinderella. Fleishman's tale keeps the sequence of the tale to be similar to the original version, while allowing for comparision and differentiation between cultures and traditions throughout the world. The themes that have resonated throughout this classic remain to be conquering evil with love.

Illustrator Julie Paschkis use of bright watercolor paintings demonstrate vibrant-colored individuals in the traditional dress of their native country. When looking closely at these figures, it is almost giving the sense of folk art images. I connected these illustrations with local painter Nancy Thomas, and her use of contemporary art that show wonderful color and warmth. Paschkis full page-bleeds of the illustrations depict images and people within the specific culture or area of the world, while providing a color scheme that sets the text and illustrations apart. Her use of color in the frames of the text, illustrations, and page give an overall warm and welcoming feeling to the reader, almost created a quilt-like image that shows the relationships between the countries. Along with the illustrations, Fleishman's placement of the text allows readers to follow in sequence of the story and reveal the similarities and differences in the story.

Fleishman and Paschkis Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal provided the opportunity for readers to explore this well-known tale, and how different parts of the world interpreted and conformed it to become a story that told of their customs, traditions, and values. The last page, a full page bleed, shows Cinderella's wedding to her King, bringing together all of the images of people depicted throughout the book - demonstrating an overall feeling of celebration in unity and and diversity throughout the world.

Nancy Thomas Art homepage: http://www.nancythomas.com/cart/cover.html