Brer Rabbit and the Goober Patch

K-Gr 3—Brer Rabbit introduces the trickster rabbit who outwits larger creatures for his own gain. Told with sassy delivery, this tale moves away from the Uncle Remus dialect but includes enough Southern expressions to add punch-"nabbing up my goobers," "lively as a June cricket." Pecos Bill is told in the same tone, with the cowboy vernacular and the tall-tale exaggeration expected in this larger-than-life tale. The title is a bit misleading as Slue-Foot-Sue appears briefly at the end of the story and is just as quickly gone. Both books include a brief history of the story and notes about the sources. Hiawatha takes a much different tone as befits a more serious topic. Hiawatha is portrayed as a troubled tribesman who longs for his fellow Iroquois to live in peace. His bravery and leadership are indisputable, as is his desire to end war. More somber moments include the loss of his entire family and his grief that lasts until his meeting with the Peacemaker and their successful plan for peace. While these stories hold some appeal, the illustrations are amateurish and unappealing, and some of them border on frightening with images of snakes in the hair of a rival chief and of Pecos Bill's son eagerly grasping a snake as a toy. Marginal purchases.—Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH