A Ring of Tricksters: Animal Tales from America, the West Indies, and Africa
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Authors
Hamilton, Virginia
Issue Date
1997
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Book, Whole
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Abstract
The trio of Hamilton, Moser, and Blue Sky Press have again fashioned a very impressive book. Unusually tall (over 8"x12") and heavy, the book is made to stand out. We are offered four American, three West Indian, and four African trickster tales, all with splendid illustrations. Among the best of these may be the illustrations of spider and lizard riding on chameleon as a river-raft (86-87 and 88-89). Some will recognize familiar fable material, like the wren besting the buzzard in a match of high-flight (15) or the cat and rat visiting fox to help divide the cheese they have captured (33), or the turtle riding the leopard -- for only a while (91)! The West Indian and African tales tend, I believe, to get into more and more magic that makes the stories longer and less like fables. Rabbit and spider are among the chief tricksters. The introduction gives a good sense of the criterion of this collection: "All of these new tales kept the pattern of the African trickster tales in which a resourceful animal hero having human traits used deceit and sly trickery, and often magic, to get what it needed from bigger and stronger animals" (10).
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Publisher
The Blue Sky Press: Scholastic
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Identifier
10729 (Access ID)