Why Lapin's Ears Are Long: And Other Tales from the Louisiana Bayou - Hardcover

Doucet, Sharon Arms

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0531330419 ISBN 13: 9780531330418

Publisher: Orchard Books, 1997

Synopsis

Compere Lapin, a scrawny, cunning, no-good Louisiana rabbit, tangles with a wildcat, robs an alligator, grapples with a grizzly, and risks his own beloved long and fluffy tail, all in an attempt to get bigger.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 4. Doucet has done a first-rate job adapting these three Creole-Cajun folktales. All involve Compere Lapin, a tricky rabbit counterpart to Br'er Rabbit. The stories flow smoothly and have a natural south Louisiana cadence, making them excellent choices for storytelling and reading aloud. Catrow has created a memorable protagonist: a cocky, bright-eyed rabbit with enormous ears. The other animals are also drawn in a lively, colorful cartoon style with plenty of humor and character?perfect complements to the narrative. An introduction places Compere Lapin in the spectrum of American folklore and lists the original collectors of the tales. This book offers a slice of folklore from a unique culture. Perhaps more of these tales will be published, for "rumor has it...that Lapin's still conjuring up tricks and giving dee-mon-stree-ations of Trouble all up and down that Louisiana bayou."?Judith Constantinides, East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Why Lapin's Ears Are Long (64 pp.; $18.95; PLB $19.99; Sept. 1997; 0-531-30041-2; PLB 0-531-33041-9): CompŠre Lapin (a.k.a., Bre'r Rabbit) is the trickster rabbit of West Africa whose exploits, translated to Louisiana in the holds of slave ships, became the stuff of Creole and Cajun folktales. Here are three of his adventures, in which he acquires: long ears, courtesy of Madame Tortue, snapping turtle and would-be conjure woman; a short tail, courtesy of CompŠre Alligator, who fails to appreciate Lapin's efforts to acquaint him with Trouble; and a doe-eyed bride, Ma'amselle Bijou Deer. Rendered in a folksy storyteller's voice, sprinkled with colloquialisms and French idioms (the glossary and notes are helpful), and enlivened with bouncy green, yellow, and brown ink-and-watercolor illustrations, these tales are sauce piquante for story hours. (glossary) (Picture book/folklore. 6-10) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Orchard Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0531330419
• ISBN 13: 9780531330418
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 57
• Illustrator: Catrow David