What does it mean to be clever? Does it mean that when you attend cocktail parties with a chosen circle of friends you're able to whip out a series of timely bon mots? Does it mean that you have the ability to finish every Sunday crossword puzzle that appears in the New York Times? Or does it, perhaps, mean that you use the full range of your brain at all times, thereby saving yourself from harm in the long run? My vote is for the last. And, as the delightful "Mabela the Clever" by Margaret Read MacDonald concurs, not much more need be said on the subject.
Says the book from the start, "In the early times, some were clever and some were foolish. The Cat was one of the clever ones. The mice were mostly foolish". Mostly. There are exceptions to every rule and in this case the exception is named Mabela. Mabela comes from a loving family, one that has given her much good advice in the past. Says her father to her, one should always keep their ears open to listen, their eyes open to see, pay attention to everything you say, and "if you have to move, MOVE FAST!". A sweet little red mouse, Mabela finds use for this parcel of wisdom when a large charming orange pussycat persuades the mice to learn all the secrets of the cat. To do so, they need only walk in a line with the cat in the rear, singing, "When we are marching, we never look back! The cat is at the end! Fo Feng! Fo Feng!". It's Mabela who realizes, at the front of this line, that something is amiss. Especially when the voices of the others behind her becomes softer.... and softer...
Fear not, little children. Though I'm sure that the original folktale of this story had the cat eat every one of the foolish mousies, it does not do so here. Instead, the cat wears a red bag on its back, into which it scoops and drops each mouse that it hopes to eat later. Fortunately for all (except the cat) Mabela intercedes. In her Author's Note at the beginning of the book, acclaimed storyteller extraordinaire, Margaret Read MacDonald, explains that she adapted this tale from one found originally in Sierra Leone. People reading this book are encouraged to sing the marching song with initial gusto and then, as each mouse slips away, softer and softer. She even provides a tune, though she points out that it's perfectly copacetic to create a melody of your own.
What I found especially endearing about this picture book were the illustrations by Tim Coffey. An artist who has only produced one or two books in his lifetime, he's given this tale just the right amount of whimsy to make it a classic. The mice may be foolish, but they're also lovable. Mabela, set apart from the others by deint of her berry red fur, sports a lovely little pair of buck teeth that make her especially adorable. And the cat is an excellent source of beautiful malice. It is a hunter and a charmer. You have no difficulty believing that the mice would follow this coy leader wherever it might ask them to go.
The moral of this story is an excellent one for children. Don't act without thinking and always keep your wits about you. A lovely lesson for one and all. The final line in the book reads that, "If a person is clever, it is because someone has taught them their cleverness". In this case, Margaret Read MacDonald is that person. She, therefore, is the one to thank.
