Brother Rabbit [Hardcover]

Minfong Ho (Author), Jennifer Hewitson (Illustrator), Jou-Sien Tseng (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

Meet Cambodia's Br'er Rabbit

Whether he's playing dead in a basket of bananas (so as to eat them, of course!), tricking an elephant into ungluing him from a tree stump, or talking his way out of a crocodile's belly, Brother Rabbit lives by his wits. Cool as a cucumber whatever the peril, he is unabashed by danger, trusting his brains to come out on top. And he always does!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3. Trickery reigns supreme as clever Brother Rabbit gets the best of everyone. His main opponent is a crocodile, whom he convinces to ferry him across the river in exchange for a cure for his scaly skin. From that point on, the two constantly spar for the upper hand. In the end, Rabbit extricates himself from the crocodile's belly by pretending to be thrilled at the prospect of eating crocodile guts. The story is well told, with just enough detail to capture all the outrageous activity in Rabbit's day, and children will take delight in his exuberant mischief. A lengthy note places Brother Rabbit in a cultural context but the book includes no source note. Hewitson uses watercolor and paint in a highly accomplished manner that mimics complex, heavily patterned scratchboard illustrations. Each single- or double-page spread features a different border that barely contains the rabbit's foolish actions. Even though the pictures include a host of details depicting Cambodian village life, the illustrations look great at a distance, making this eminently suitable for group sharing.?Ellen Fader, Multnomah County Library, Portland,
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 1^-4. When a river separates a hungry rabbit from food, the resourceful creature tricks an enormous crocodile into ferrying him across the swiftly-moving water to his feast. Soon after, Brother Rabbit outsmarts a market woman and an elephant mother and her child. But greater trouble awaits in the form of the angry, revenge-seeking crocodile. Hewitson's bright watercolor-and-ink illustrations cleverly enhance this Cambodian folktale's sense of place and lend suspense and drama to the rabbit's misadventures. A distinctive border frames each page, and Hewitson imbues each illustration with an exceptional sense of texture and movement that pairs with the text to race the story along. Older students may find this a good choice for storytelling or for comparing with other trickster tales or Brother Rabbit stories. No notes are provided, but the authors discuss the place of folklore in Cambodia and relate the story's theme to Cambodian history. Karen Morgan

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers; 1st edition (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688125522
• ISBN-13: 978-0688125523
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,442,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Asian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brother Rabbit outwits a crocodile several times, March 1, 2004

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Brother Rabbit (Hardcover)

A favorite theme in Cambodian folktales is that of a small but clever animal getting the better of someone who is stronger and meaner but not quite as smart. In explaining the background of this story authors Minfong Ho and Saphan Ros tell us how farmers and villagers in Cambodian society saw themselves as being small and weak in comparison to the powerful landlords, soldiers, and kings above them. Ho and Ros also see "Brother Rabbit" as being particularly appropriate given the way Cambodia had been the pawn of larger nations during the Vietnam War and then suffered under the despotic rule of the Khmer Rouge. Consequently, stories in which the tables were turned and the weak came out on top were particular beloved and told by grandparents to village children in the cool of the evening or performed as folk plays called "jikay."

The story tells how one day Brother Rabbit was hopping along one morning when he spied a patch of tender rice seedlings being planted in a field across the river. The problem was how to get across the river to steal into the field for a feast and when a crocodile comes swimming along Brother Rabbit believes he can get a free ride across. However, that only proves to the first encounter between the pair and what I especially like about the story is that Brother Rabbit does not get the better of crocodile just once, but repeatedly in the telling of the tale, as well as an elephant. Many readers will obviously be reminded of Brer Rabbit from the tales of Uncle Remus. "Brother Rabbit" has illustrations by Jennifer Hewitson, which were done in watercolor paints and inks that artfully captures the culture from whence this tale sprang.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A clever rabbit outwits a vicious crocodile, April 9, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Saratoga Springs, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brother Rabbit (Hardcover)

This is a charming and well written cambodian folk tale about a clever rabbit that manages to outwit a much larger and ferocious crocodile. The message is brains over brawn, a theme most children easily relate to. Adults will also enjoy the intelligence and wit of the prose as well as the colorful and and detailed illustrations.