Customer Reviews

Sugar Cane: A Caribbean Rapunzel

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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A small girl child comes up to you. She wants a fairy tale. You are the librarian she is asking a book from. You are entirely on your own. A couple options open themselves up to you. If the word "princess" spills from this child's lips then you may have a problem. Those insidious Disney Princesses are probably what this girl is referring to and you're going to have a heckuva time convincing her that there is any other kind of princess in the world. Sometimes, though, you get a girl child that doesn't care what kind of princess book you find, just so long as it's pretty. At that point, you have a couple options. You could locate Sneed's version of Thumbelina and McClintock's version of Cinderella. You could try your hand at a little Trina Schart Hyman or Nancy Ekholm Burkert (if you're feeling brave). There's even Paul Zelinsky's Rapunzel and Rumpelstiltskin for flavor. Of course, these princess stories have one thing in common with Snow White and it's not her penchant for apples. A good librarian mixes it up a little. There will be some The Girl Who Spun Gold and a touch of Sukey and the Mermaid (Aladdin Picture Books) slipped in amongst the tales. And now I urge you to add to all of these Patricia Strace's new retelling of Rapunzel, "Sugar Cane". Illustrated by the frighteningly talented Raul Colon, Strace's first picture book for children takes all the wonder of the original tale, then spices it up without descending into stereotype or parody. If you're looking for a retelling of a classic, this little book may well have your number.

For you see, there once was a fisherman and his wife. One day the wife became pregnant, and the man was overjoyed for her. Unfortunately, that was when the cravings began. The wife begged and pleaded with the husband to fetch her some sugar cane for the baby. Not able to travel all the way across the island to the sugar farms, the man instead found a hidden garden and house in the midst of the forest. Thinking himself unobserved he fetched the sugar cane for his wife. When he attempted the same trick a second time, however, Madame Fate the sorceress caught him and told him that she would have his child in return. Sure enough, by the time little Sugar Cane's first birthday rolled around, the woman stole her away (to her parents' tears). Sugar Cane grew up musically inclined with conjured educators from the past to teach her. It is in this state, as a young woman, that the son of a fisherman named King found her and the two struck up a friendship. Of course, none of this pleases the sorceress particularly when she made aware of the state of things. What follows is a tale of Sugar Cane's sense of self-preservation, perseverance, and intelligence. The happy ending just happens to be a nice plus.

Now, let's just make clear right now that this is an original story and NOT a different version of Rapunzel that you would find it in the Caribbean. Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood have alternate versions found in different nations, but that's not the same thing as taking a story like Rapunzel and adapting it to a different cultural setting. Clear? Good. Because the book is worth checking out on its own merits alone. Storace made some interesting choices with this title. For example, Sugar Cane is attended by a little green monkey named Callaloo. Normally, small animal companions in fairy tales smack of Disneyfication, but Storace is careful with her characters. The monkey serves a purpose in the story and wouldn't have appeared here otherwise. I was pleased with the education of Sugar Cane and also the slow growth of her relationship with King. Storace eschews the whole pregnancy part of the original story which some people might find that jarring, but in a way Callaloo stands in for the children Sugar Cane doesn't have. Best of all, the setting doesn't degrade into familiarity. Storace takes the taste of the Caribbean landscape without simplifying it into a list of stereotypes. The language of the book reads beautifully too. You'd never guess that this was her first book for children.

For a story of this length (a surprising 48 pages) you need an illustrator who isn't afraid of going in for the long haul. Someone who can retain an audience's interest for pages at a time. You have this with Raul Colon. Ever beautiful, ever clever, he knows how to sell a tale. As always Colon's illustrations are just as impressive in their scope and opulence as they are when it comes to little tiny details. For example, the interior of the fisherman's home shows the briefest glimpse of a black and white family portrait hanging on the wall in the background. In another scene, the expression on the fisherman's face as he, his wife, and their baby bathe is that kind of beatific happiness difficult to capture in any medium. Because this tale is relatively long for a picture book, Colon had to continually break up the text during some of the more lengthy passages. When the book comments on the different teachers conjured up for Sugar Cane, brief snatches of their faces (some familiar) dot the page. And then there's the style of art itself. As far as I can determine (and the advanced reader's copy of the book I read was a bit unclear on this point) Colon appears to be using some kind of a scratchboard technique. As a result, the book is full of waves. The waves of Sugar Cane's hair. The waves of the sea. The curl of the clouds and the flow of the fabric on shirts and skirts. And you might easily miss how the wavy hair on the front of the book reaches and curls around the image of King playing his guitar on the book's back.

There were things I would have liked to have seen, of course. Illustrators like Paul Zelinsky have found that the Rapunzel storyline has a lot more depth and interest if you don't view the witch as an out-and-out monster. This is essentially the story of a woman who wants a baby. Rapunzel/Sugar Cane is well tended and loved by her adoptive parent. But "Sugar Cane" the book is fairly vague on the witch aspect of the tale. One minute she's threatening the young lovers and the next minute she's gone, never to be seen again. This is certainly in keeping with the original Rapunzel tale, but couldn't Storace have offered a little closure on the evil sorceress end of things? Then again, what do you do with a maternal villain? Having Sugar Cane somehow kill or destroy the woman she considered her mother for most of her life is harsh, to say the least. And a last minute change of heart on the part of the antagonist would feel false or silly. So instead, she fades into the story. It's an easier solution, but still not a perfect one.

Just the same, it's a beautiful retelling. A bedtime book that no one in their right mind would hesitate to wrap up for a child on a gift-giving occasion. Fairy tales and fables will always be with us. We may as well gussy them up a little with lovely new views like Jump at the Sun's, "Sugar Cane". Much with the recommended.

I brought this book for my niece I read it loved it and neicey may have to read it at my house. I could actually feel the characters I am having a hard time giving it up

I ordered this on the strength of a review of recent renderings of the Rapunzel myth in The New York Review of Books ("The Girl in the Tower" by Alison Lurie, May 1, 2008), which also explored why this story has such staying power. The artwork is beautiful and the story is well told, with a very scary sorceress as the villain. This is a far cry from the usual wan blond waiting for help in the tower.

I really wanted to love this book. As the white adoptive father of an African-American girl, and the foster father to an African-American boy, I am always on the lookout for books that prominently feature black people and black children in a positive light. And I will say that the art in this book is beautiful, and the Caribbean treatment of the classic fairy tale is, on the whole, a wonderful update to the story.

However, there is one page whose poor choice of words spoiled the whole book for me. At one point "Madame Fate," who has kidnapped Sugar Cane and taken her away from her parents, locking the young girl in a tower and keeping her away from the world, is referred to as Sugar Cane's "foster mother." My daughter, seven years old, picked up on that right away since we are a foster family. We had to stop reading while I explained that Madame Fate is not actually a foster mother, that people who are foster families do not just steal children away, and that foster parents are people who provide homes for children who need them. Madame Fate is a kidnapper, not a foster mother.

In short, the poor choice of words on one page means that I am unlikely ever to read this story to my daughter (or foster son) again, and I would *not* recommend this book for any adoptive families or foster families.

Since we live in the Caribbean, I purchased this as an extra summer reading book for my 8 year old daughter and 10 year old niece. We received the book yesterday, I read it at bedtime and they LOVED it. The girls did not want me to stop reading. To test their attention/comprehension; I would pause after each page and ask questions: they could repeat the story word-for-word!

I also enjoyed the incorporation of Caribbean lifestyle and culture in the story: carnival customs, local fruits and daily living. The illustrations are beautiful! I love the art work.

We need more books like this!

Wonderful story with beautiful illustrations! I highly recommend this book for girls and boys a like. It's a fantastic opportunity to teach children about different cultures, and celebrate beauty in all it's colors.

This is a wonderful book. It has beautiful, rich illustrations, and it has wonderfully poetic text. The story is much more fleshed out than many versions of Rapunzel - and I'm not ashamed to admit how happy I am to have a princess story that avoids all that long blond hair. I'm tired of my two biracial nieces complaining about their hair because it's "not princess hair". Really, it breaks my heart to hear it.

I firmly recommend this to any child's library. One major caveat though - this is a long book. A LONG one. And it's hard to cut out the text without really selling the story short. It takes easily 25 minutes to read on its own - and that's if you rush and don't spend any time to really enjoy and appreciate the art or to savor the words you just read.

Don't try this on any child too young to have any real attention span (there's a reason this book is listed as appropriate for children over the age of 4) and don't try this when you don't have the time. You'll just cheat yourself. Set aside some real time for this one - it's worth it.

This is a fine telling of the Rapunzel story, set in the Carribean. Well told and well illustrated. My daughter (10) loves this book.