Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit: A Folktale from Cambodia [Hardcover]

Lina Mao Wall (Author), Nancy Hom (Illustrator), Lina Mao Wall (Designer)

Book Description

In this well-known Cambodian tale, Judge Rabbit solves the problem of a mischievous tree spirit that has taken on human form.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Judge Rabbit, a Cambodian folk hero, stars in this unique bilingual (English/Khmer) tale. When a woman's husband is called for military service, the jealous spirit of a banyan tree takes his human form. Believing this "man" is her husband, the wife is justifiably confused when her actual husband returns. The human husband enlists the help of Judge Rabbit, who produces a small bottle and declares that "only the true husband can fit inside this bottle." The tree spirit quickly enters the container and husband and wife are reunited. The story's universal appeal will be evident to readers even as they cheer Judge Rabbit's clever adjudication. Incorporating native flora and fauna, the bold, primitive paintings, though occasionally static, are vibrant counterpoints to the facing English text and blend the Khmer narrative into their striking design. Ages 6-12.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- Brer Rabbit has a clever Cambodian counterpart in Judge Rabbit, a wise yet often mischievous hare who deals directly with people, solving their problems, and sometimes playing tricks on them. In this particular folktale, told in English and Khmer, a young husband must leave his new wife at the king's request to fight enemy invaders. Pausing in his march to war to rest under a banyan tree, he turns back three times, but finally chooses duty over love. Now within that tree dwells a spirit, who decides to see just what the man has left behind. Discovering a beautiful but sad wife, he decides to make her--and himself--happy by changing shape to look exactly like her husband. All goes well until the woman's husband returns. Who is the real husband? Shrewd Judge Rabbit comes up with the solution, which sees the grateful couple reunited and the tree spirit succumbing to his own vanity. Stylized floral borders enclose the English text on the left; vibrant primitive-style pictures, with flora and fauna fanciful yet realistic, appear with the much smaller Khmer text on the right. The illustrations, done in silkscreen, watercolor, and colored pencil, capture the feel of Cambodian life and leave the impression of elaborate Southeast Asian stitchery. However, the human figures and the tree spirit are sometimes awkwardly rendered, and it is unfortunate the blocks of Khmer text had to be placed within the illustrations. The story itself is neither as appealing a tale nor as lively a retelling as the Judge Rabbit folktale found in UNESCO's Folk Tales from Asia for Children Everywhere, Book 4 (Weatherhill, 1976; o.p.), but certainly larger folklore collections and libraries serving a Cambodian population will want it. --Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 30 pages
• Publisher: Children's Book Press (CA) (April 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892390719
• ISBN-13: 978-0892390717
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,455,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Text in Khmer and English, March 23, 2010

By 

W. Koenig (Salem, Ore.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit: A Folktale from Cambodia (Hardcover)

This is a must have for any mixed families of English speakers and Cambodians. Mainly because it's the only children's story that includes Khmer text and English text.

I can read the story to our son in English, and my wife can read it to him in Khmer. He is exposed to both languages and learns that different words can describe the same concept.

It's a great baby shower gift for a mixed Khmer-American family (or Khmer-Canadian, etc.).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars delightful introduction to Cambodian folk tales, March 5, 2010

By 

Bachelier ""1004"" (Ile de France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit: A Folktale from Cambodia (Hardcover)

This is a delightful introduction to the many Cambodian folk tales that feature Judge Rabbit, the "trickster" Judge who is always on the side of the righteous and wise.

The story involves a Tree Spirit who becomes jealous of the happy life of a young couple, and poses as the absent husband while he has been called to defend his country by his King. When the husband returns from war, the young bride is confused as to the identity of her true husband, while Tree Spirit maintains the ruse. That is, until Judge Rabbit enters the picture and tricks the Tree Spirit into revealing himself, and captures him to keep him from harming our couple's happiness forever more.

I found the illustrations a bit oddly colored, but my children (Khmer-Ham and European) did not mind.

This is one of the few books available in English and Khmer (Cambodian) with clean Pali script that is easy to read. My wife reads the Khmer to the children, and I read the English, so for our family this works very well.

The binding is high quality and will last for a long time even with rough handling from many hands.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars delightful Cambodian tale, May 21, 2002

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit: A Folktale from Cambodia (Hardcover)

Cathy Spagnoli has again done an excellent job of adapting a spoken folk tale into a picture book text - a task that is much more difficult than it appears. Nancy Hom's illustrations include the Khemer text. While few will be able to read the Khemer, it is an excellent way to introduce children to the concept of different alphabets. The tale itself is a simple tale of a newlywed heading off to war only to have a tree spirit impersonate the groom to the bride. When the true groom returns, a wise rabbit serves a judge to set the world back in order. As with many of the animal folktales, there is a gentle moral to the story ... far gentler than the Western Aesop tradition.