Butter Tree

The award-winning author retells six South Carolina tales about Bruh Rabbit and his adventures outwitting, and sometimes being outwitted by, Bruh Bear and Bruh Wolf.

Grade 1-3?Retellings of six African American "Bruh Rabbit" stories collected between 1935-1941 and first published in South Carolina Folktales. The writing is appropriate for beginning readers, as is the attractive, spacious format. However, the tales themselves are simple and spare and have no dramatic tension or interest, much less characterization. About half of Vautier's illustrations are done in bright, primary colors; the rest are reproduced in black and white. They seem to be aiming for a primitive, childlike appearance, but come off as garish and rather unattractive. Libraries looking for versions of these tales for beginning readers would be better served by Linda Hayward's Hello, House! (Random, 1988).?Kay McPherson, Central Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, GA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Wily "Bruh" Rabbit (like "brer," "bruh" is a variant of "brother") stars in six stories from South Carolina. These stories are priceless historically-as Lyons points out in an afterword, hearing about how small animals could trick big animals undoubtedly helped the enslaved originators of these tales endure their own oppression. Modern audiences, however, may find the narration here somewhat abrupt. In one story, for example, Bruh Rabbit tricks Bruh Wolf into drying his wet fur in the oven. But when Bruh Wolf wants out, "'Chin-chin,' [Bruh Rabbit] said. 'I want you crispy dry.' Then he slammed the door. And Bruh Rabbit's children had oven-fried wolf for supper." Equally problematic is the use of black-and-white illustrations to alternate with antic color art. Vautier's quirky primativism fizzles without her energetic primary paints. See Bo Rabbit: Smart for True (noted below) for a more developed treatment of similar material. Ages 5-7.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.