Folklore, #2: Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain

Following Sebgugugu the Glutton (1993), I chose Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, by the same author (Verna Aardema), and illustrated both by Aardema and Beatriz Vidal.

Though not technically a poem, this retelling of another African folktale is poetic. For this story, Aardema took the original tale and poetic influence from This is the House that Jack Built, creating a cumulative rhyming story. The basic plot is that Ki-Pat sees how the animals and his family suffer during a drought, so he works to bring back the rain. He succeeds and the animals and his family are the happier for it.

-Nick

Multicultural Poetry: Neighborhood Odes

As part of an attempt at expanding my basis of both poetry and multicultural literature, I've chosen Neighborhood Odes, by Gary Soto (1992, illustrated by David Diaz.)

The perspective/setting are a neighborhood of mostly latin@ children, so the experiences include learning to make tortillas and talking about la llorona. There is Spanish scattered around the poems and their titles, but the content isn't necessarily foreign to non-latin@ readers: everyone can connect to the stories Soto tells.

As an ESL teacher trainee, a book like this is hugely valuable to me.


-Nick

Caldecott Award Winner: Owl Moon

The second book on the list is the Caldecott Award-winning Owl Moon, written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by John Schoenherr (1987.)

The illustrations are simple but breathtaking, and they seem to draw from Japanese tradition: light, fast brushtrokes, not too heavy on the paint, a lot of muted colors, and a lot of nature. The story is set in the winter, so the negative space joins the painting as the snow, and the text takes advantage of the white snow.

The text itself is sparse and the story is simple: a father teaches his daughter how to make owl calls, and like learning to fish, she learns how to be patient when the owls don't respond, and how to be appreciative when they do.

-Nick

Folklore, #1: Sebgugugu the Glutton

The first book on the list is a retelling of a Bantu tale from Rwanda: Sebgugugu the Glutton, retelling written by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Nancy L. Clouse (1993)

The tale is old but the message is timeless: be careful what you ask for and don't be too greedy. Sebgugugu and his family suffer in poverty, and so they turn to the gods for help. One god helps Sebgugugu, and at first, he and his family are happy. He wants more, though, and he thinks he can get more because his first wish was granted. He uses up the bounty given to him and asks for more, he gets more, he takes advantage of the second gift, and he asks for a third. This continues for a while, with Sebgugugu ignoring the warnings ("You can have endless milk as long as you don't kill the cow," for example), and his wife's pleas to stop being so greedy.

I won't spoil the ending, but Sebgugugu goes too far and it comes back to hurt him.

This book could easily be used for a lesson on morality, African folklore, global folklore, or culture.

-Nick