Only One Cowry: A Dahomean Tale [Library Binding]

Phillis Gershator (Author), David Soman (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000 | Age Level: 5 and up

A clever young fellow persuades an equally clever chief's daughter to marry the king of Dahomey, and both the young man and future queen prosper in the bargain.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 4-Gershator brings her considerable storytelling skills to this tale of a stingy king who wishes to pay only a single cowry shell as a bride-price. Yo, a young and clever subject, accepts the ruler's challenge to find him a spouse for this meager offering. Yo takes the shell and slowly but surely, through work and barter, turns it into a suitable dowry, saying with each new acquisition, "Well, well, I'm doing well, thanks to Dada Segbo's shell." When the bride Yo locates discovers that the King was intent on paying only a single cowry to her family, she does some clever manipulating of her own. Soman's full-page collage illustrations are rich in texture and design and are a good match for the text. An author's note on the history of the tale is appended. A delightful addition to folktale shelves.
Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 5-8. Based on versions of a Dahomean folktale, this good-humored cumulative picture book for older readers features not one but two tricksters working in silent collusion. When miserly king Dada Segbo declares that he will pay no more than a single cowry shell for a wife, only a young fellow named Yo offers to make the match. Exchanging the shell for a bit of flint, Yo cleverly proceeds to amass wealth and attract a chief's daughter, celebrating his increasing fortunes with an expanding chorus that invites audience participation. The daughter, however, is no fool; learning that Dada Segbo paid but one cowry for her bride price, she declares that she must have a feast and suitable new clothes before she leaves her village. Silly, self-satisfied Dada Segbo happily accedes. The illustrations are Soman's best work to date. Using a wide assortment of handmade and patterned papers cut or torn into large, uncomplicated shapes, he brilliantly captures the story's light tone with scenes of smiling figures posed gracefully against simplified, evocative backgrounds. Young readers and listeners will laugh along with Yo and his beautiful coconspirator as the two slyly prize a lavish bride price from the smug sovereign. Source note. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: Orchard Books (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531332888
• ISBN-13: 978-0531332887
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,502,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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