[BOOK REVIEW] Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion by Verna Aardema

Title:  Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion

Author:  Verna Aardema

Artist: Jerry Pinkney

Genre:  Africa / Animals / Folktale / Trickery

Year Published: 1989

Year Read:  2015

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

I have read many African folktales and I had enjoyed a good majority of them!  So, imagine my surprise when I picked up a new children’s book called “Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion,” which is a Swahili tale retold by Verna Aardema along with illustrations by Jerry Pinkney and it is definitely one story that every child should read!

 The story starts out with the honey guide telling Rabbit about how it found some tasty honey in a calabash tree and Rabbit decides to invite her friends Bush-rat and Turtle to dine on the honey.  Unfortunately, the calabash tree belongs to Lion and he is not happy about having a couple of pests eating honey out of his tree!  So, in order to escape from being eaten by Lion and getting the honey at the same time, Rabbit and her friends end up tricking Lion into various situations that allow them to get the honey, making a monkey out of Lion!

Will Lion finally get Rabbit?

Read this book to find out!

 I have read many books written by Verna Aardema and I always enjoyed the way that Verna Aardema is able to retell many ancient folktales and make them so mesmerizing to read!  Well, this book was no different and I really loved the way that Verna Aardema was able to combine both humor and drama into this story as you laugh whenever Rabbit tricks Lion and get scared when you think that Lion will eat Rabbit.  I loved the fact that this story is reminiscent of Uncle Remus’ “Brer Rabbit” tales as both stories involves the main protagonist being a rabbit and tricking their enemies to get out of dangerous situations. Jerry Pinkney’s artwork is as usual gorgeous to look at as the characters look truly realistic and I always loved seeing the scenes where Lion is chasing Rabbit right after she tricks him in order to escape as they look truly vibrant.

Overall, “Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion” is another fantastic African folktale from the great mind of Verna Aardema and anyone who loves reading about African folktales should definitely check this book out!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

[BOOK REVIEW] What's So Funny, Ketu? by Verna Aardema

Title:  What's So Funny Ketu?

Author:  Verna Aardema

Artist:  Marc Brown

Genre:  Family / Africa / Humor / Folktale

Year Published: 1982

Year Read:  1993

Publisher: The Dial Press

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Threats of Death)

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Now, everyone knows about Marc Brown’s famous “Arthur” series and how it managed to remain well-loved by children for many years, right?  Well, did you know that Marc Brown had illustrated an underrated children's book called “What’s So Funny, Ketu?” which was also written by Verna Aardema and was based off an old Nuer folktale?  I must admit that it took me awhile to get back around to this story since it was so unknown to the general children’s book community and I could not remember the title of this story at the time, but I will say that this story is definitely worth reading!

The story starts off with Ketu saving a snake from his dog and the snake wanted to reward Ketu for his kindness by giving him the gift to hear animals’ thoughts.  Of course, there is a price to this gift: if Ketu tells anyone what the animals are really thinking about, he will DIE!  So, Ketu promised not to reveal the animals’ thoughts to anyone, not even to his wife Nyaloti.  Unfortunately, this starts causing problems for Ketu as every time he hears the animals’ thoughts, he would start laughing uncontrollably to the point where he would startled anyone near him.  This then leads to his wife Nyaloti going to the Chief and telling the Chief that her husband is supposedly laughing at her since Ketu refuses to tell her what he is really laughing about.  The Chief then tells Ketu that if he does not tell everyone what he is really laughing about, then his wife Nyaloti and their baby daughter will have to go back and live with her father.

Will Ketu tell everyone his secret or will he risk dying in the process?

Read this book to find out!

Now, I have been a huge fan of Marc Brown’s works for many years now, mainly with his work on the “Arthur” series.  However, I was quite surprised that Marc Brown had done some gorgeous artwork for this unknown children’s book “What’s So Funny, Ketu?”  Marc Brown’s artwork is just gorgeous in this book as the characters look realistic and the African setting of this story is extremely vibrant to look at.  I also loved the fact that most of the colorings in the artwork are mainly done in red, brown, yellow, black and white colors as they really made the artwork truly stand out.  It is amazing how realistic and gorgeous Marc Brown’s artwork looks in this book compared to the artwork in the later “Arthur” books and I just cannot help but stare for many hours at these wonderful illustrations! Verna Aardema’s storytelling was truly wonderful in this book as I thought that this book was barrels of fun and I loved the way that Verna Aardema used various phrases such as “tu-e, tu-e, tu-e” and “pah, pah, pah” to describe the sound effects that each character makes such as laughing or patting a baby on the back.

Parents should know that there are some mentions of death in this book, mainly concerning that if Ketu tells anyone his secret, he will die.  Parents might want to discuss about the subject of death with their children before reading them this book.

Overall, “What’s So Funny, Ketu?” is a truly brilliant book for anyone who loves African folktales and underrated classics!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the subject of death might be a bit upsetting for some children. 

[BOOK REVIEW] Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema

Title:  Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Author:  Verna Aardema

Artist:  Leo and Diane Dillon


Genre: Animal / Drama / Fantasy / Folktale


Year Published: 1975


Year Read: 1994

Publisher: Puffin

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Death of a Child)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 

“Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears” is a Caldecott Award winning folktale from Africa about the consequences of lying to other people and how they affect others.  Verna Aardema’s playful narrative and Leo and Diane Dillon’s colorful and vibrant illustrations make this book an instant treat for children and adults alike.

Verna Aardema’s magnificent retelling of an ancient West African folktale is both funny and dramatic.  The story of how a mosquito’s lie eventually causes chaos in the forest and the unfortunate death of one of Mother Owl’s owlets is an extremely dramatic moment in this book and it teaches children how lying can affect other people in a negative way, whether it involves the person having a bad reputation because of the lie or it results in someone getting seriously hurt in a physical or a mental way.  Leo and Diane Dillon’s vibrant illustrations are colorful and creative as they display the animals in a flat style and design the other animals to be larger than the mosquito (even though in reality, the mosquito is smaller than the other animals) which might suggest that the mosquito is more like a small pest while the other animals were trying to go about their business in the forest.

Parents should know that this story involves the death of a child and that would upset many sensitive children and adults.  Many parents would feel sympathy for Mother Owl as one of her owlets gets killed and how distraught she was when she finds out about this incident as many parents who lost their children before would relate deeply to this situation.  Also, small children might be frighten about he subject matter of death and parents need to reassure them about how they will always be there for their child and how death is apart of life (how you would explain to them about death is up to you).

“Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears” is a wonderful and cautious book about the consequences of telling people lies and many children would surely enjoy this classic book for many generations.  Of course, I would recommend this book for children ages five and older since it does deal with the death of a child.

* 1976 Caldecott Medal
* 1976 Reading Rainbow's 101 Best Children's Books