tricksters

Review: The Fox and the Crow by Manasi Subramaniam

| Tasha

fox and the crow

The Fox and the Crow by Manasi Subramaniam, illustrated by Culpeo S. Fox

A new version of a classic Aesop fable, this picture book explores the tale of Fox and Crow.  Crow is all set to perch with his fellows on a wire but then smells the bread cooling in a window below.  Down he swoops and heads into the woods with it.  But Fox is there too, sneaking along.  Fox howls, singing beneath Crow.  Crow must respond in song, opens his mouth and down falls the bread into Fox’s waiting mouth below.  It’s a tale we all know, but told in such a masterful way that it is made new again.

Subramaniam’s text adds to the drama of this short tale.  This is writing with lushness and body, using words that will stretch young children in just the right way.  Words like raucous, wafting, twilight and temptress fill the story and enrich it.  They cleverly play up the darkness, the wildness and the tricks that are being played.

Fox’s illustrations are just as rich and dark.  Each illustration is a painting that stands on its own in composition and beauty.  Fox uses spatters to add texture to his deep color palette that evokes the encroaching twilight and evening.  On some pages the colors of the sunset enter, adding more drama.

A reinvention of an old tale, this is an incredible new telling.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Foxy! by Jessica Souhami

| Tasha

foxy

Foxy! by Jessica Souhami

This North American version of a universal trickster tale is given a fresh but still classic take in this new picture book.  Foxy caught a bee and put it in a sack.  He met a woman with a rooster and asked her to look after his sack while he went to visit a friend, but insisted that she not look in the sack.  Of course, the woman did look in and the bee flew off.  So the Fox demanded her rooster in exchange.  This pattern continues with Foxy leaving the sack with another person and exchanging one animal for an even more large and tasty one.  Until he finally gets a little boy in his sack and meets up with a woman who understands how to trick a trickster.

Souhami incorporates rhythm and repetition into her story in a way that makes it a pleasure to read aloud.  Each new animal is gained in the much the same way with the structure carrying through from one to the next.  The result is a story that dances along with the wily fox, the readers able to settle into the traditional feel of the tale.

This would make a great choice for turning into storytelling, though it would be a shame to lose the bright and vibrant cut-paper illustrations seen here.  They have a great crispness to them that translates well to a group.

Perfection for reading aloud, this story is designed to be shared.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.