More Tales of Uncle Remus: Further Adventures of Brer Rabbit, His Friends, Enemies and Others

Retells the final adventures and misadventures of Brer Rabbit and his friends and enemies

Grade 4-8-This is the fourth volume of retellings of African-American folktales that were first collected by Joel Chandler Harris in the late 19th-century Reconstruction South. As before, Lesteruses Uncle Remus as narrator and, as before, he is a forceful, witty, and cunning storyteller rather than the subservient character of Harris's creation. Many of these 39 selections are pourquoi tales, such as "Why the Cricket Has Elbows on His Legs" and "Why Brer Possum Has No Hair on His Tail." Several stories feature that hero of heroes, Brer Rabbit, but he does not dominate the tales as in the earlier books. These tales are darker in tone than the stories usually associated with Harris's characters. They show capricious and violent tricks of fate that surely mirrored closely the lives of the slaves who told them. As in the previous books, Lester has done a stellar job in the retelling. Pinkney's watercolor illustrations have the same verve and interest as before. Storytellers will find this book a rich find of rare and unusual materials.
Kay McPherson, Central Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, GA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The fourth volume of a landmark retelling completes the roster, with Lester's witty contemporary voice (``I reckon I should push the pause button on this story `cause you want to know how the axe could see her coming,'' or, ``she did the laundry and...the colored clothes stood up and started singing a commercial'') still serving the original tales' subversive humor with splendid originality. In a quiet, well-reasoned introductory essay on why he kept the name ``Uncle Remus,'' Lester points out that ``without the distinctive voice of the narrator, the stories would not have endured,'' though, ironically, ``Harris's Uncle Remus also represents...the servile `darky.' '' Still, ``this should not blind us to his contribution or cause us to withdraw respect from him. Each of us is as complex and contradictory, and that is the beauty of being human.'' Some of the 39 stories here are less familiar than those in the earlier volumes, but no less entertaining when rendered in Lester's companionable style (from delightful description--''He ran away from there so fast, his shadow had to hitchhike home''--to sharp commentary--''When a man looks at the world through hungry eyes, everything looks good to eat''; quoting is seductive). Again, variants of other tales (e.g., Richard Chase's) make for interesting contrasts, and Pinkney provides several handsome color spreads (seen), plus dozens of drawings (not seen). Essential. (Folklore. 7+) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 4 and up. Thirty-nine selections--from tall tales and ghost stories to trickster tales--drawn from the African American tradition are reclaimed and retold in this fourth and apparently final volume in Lester's Uncle Remus series. Lester's ability to communicate the oral rhythm of the stories is compelling, and his storyteller's voice offers commentary and asides in a nearly perfect combination of traditional and modern vernacular. Humor bubbles from the characterizations, plot, and language in the tales, which offer themselves for reading aloud or storytelling with an almost audible shout. With 8 color and 26 black-and-white illustrations by Pinkney, this roundup is as refreshing and down-to-earth as was the first book in the series; and it deserves its place as the crowning conclusion to a historic collection of tales. Janice Del Negro