Jump! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit

Joel Chandler Harris

ISBN 10: 0152413502 / ISBN 13: 9780152413507

Published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Orlando, FL, 1986

About this Item

1st Ed./1st Printing HARDBACK. DJ in Clear, ARCHIVAL MYLAR WRAP. NO remainder mark. "People will talk, and as long as the do, they will tell each other stories. The origin of these particaular stories is complex and uncertain. In Jamaica, for example, 'Brer Rabbit Grossly Deceives Brer Fox' is told about Tiger and Anansi the Spider. Whatever their history, we know these tales were told by black slaves in the American South, who came to the United States against their will, with little besides the words in their mouths. These stories were first told aloud to the whole community and the lighhearted mischief in them has great appeal to all ages. Nowhere will you find a better example of pluck and cleverness triumphing over brute strength. When Joel Chandler Harris, a Georgian newspaperman, collected and recorded these tales in the late 1800s, they were very popular. Harris took great care to present the stories in the dialect of nineteenth-century black story tellers. In his book 'Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings,' Harris created a character named Uncle Remus, an elderly black pantation slave who told stories about Brer Rabbit and his friends to a little white boy." Adapted by VAN DYKE PARKS and Illustrated by BARRY MOSER. Slight indentation tear in DJ along spine & Front end paper has been cut out, otherwise FINE. | SHIPS AIRMAIL INTERNATIONALLY!

Seller Inventory # 5278

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Jump! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Orlando, FL
• Publication Date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0152413502
• ISBN 13: 9780152413507
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Barry Moser
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

A retelling of five folktales in which crafty Brer Rabbit tries to outsmart all the other creatures in the animal community.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 3 The folktales collected by Harris from former slaves at the turn-of-the-century constitute a valuable contribution to African-American folklore. However, their usefulness has been weakened by problems with the heavy dialect with which they were written and with the narrator, Uncle Remus. Margaret Wise Brown's Brer Rabbit: Stories from Uncle Remus (Harper, 1941; o.p.) and Ennis Rees' Brer Rabbit and His Tricks (1967; o.p.) and More of Brer Rabbit's Tricks (1968; o.p., both Scott), all of which eliminated Uncle Remus, are excellent versions, but all, unfortunately, are out-of-print. This book steps in to fill the void left by those books. It is a retelling of six stories found in Chase's The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus (Houghton, 1955). These retellings are as spirited as the originals but without their drawbacks. They are written in standard English, which eliminates the pain of trying to figure out what all these "Bimebys" mean. Also, Uncle Remus is nowhere in sight to detract from the lively carryings on of Brer Rabbit and friends. Moser's illustrations, full-page portraits of the characters and their antics, are in pen-and-ink and watercolor. They match the text in humor and vigor, all the while comparing favorably with the 1896 A. B. Frost drawings for the original edition. This picture book retelling should serve as a good introduction for younger children to this important piece of American folk culture. Certainly it's the best of all the editions now in print, and one that should be treasured. Kay McPherson, Central Atlanta-Fulton Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.