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The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle's Wedding
Retold by Alma Flor Ada
Illustrated by Kathleen Kuchera
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, NY, 1993
Summary: "In this cumulative folktale from Latin America, the sun sets off a chain of events which results in the cleaning of Rooster's beak in time for his uncle's wedding."
This book would be a great book to read aloud to children aged 4-8. They will be able to catch on and help read as the rooster meets all of the different elements of nature in the story. The beautiful illustrations provided a glimpse into the colorful, bright, and tropical landscape of Latin America, possibly in Cuba, where the author first heard the story. The liveliness, dress, and props of the characters also show the reader some of the cultural traits of Latin America.
The Wise Old Woman
retold by Yoshiko Uchida
illustrated by Martin Springett
published by Macmillan Publishing, NY, 1994
Summary: "An old woman demonstrates the value of her age when she solves a warlord's three riddles and saves her village from destruction."
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The simple, but meaningful illustrations of this story show the reader the mountainous landscape and provides images of the people, animals, architecture, and nature of Japan. The story reveals the important Japanese message of respect for your elders and for wisdom. I really like how the pages are illustrated not only with a one page colorful illustration, but also with a solid color and black illustration of something else happening on that page of the story.
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Mr. Semolina-Semolinus
retold by Anthony L. Manna and Christodoula Mitakidou
illustrated by Giselle Potter
retold by Anthony L. Manna and Christodoula Mitakidou
illustrated by Giselle Potter
published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, NY, 1997
Summary: Areti, a Greek princess, makes a man fit for her to love from almonds, sugar, and semolina, but when he is stolen away by a jealous queen, Areti searches the world for him.
Summary: Areti, a Greek princess, makes a man fit for her to love from almonds, sugar, and semolina, but when he is stolen away by a jealous queen, Areti searches the world for him.
The author includes in her note about the story information about similar stories from Mediterranean countries and explains that Areti means "virtue" in Greek. I loved the unique illustrations in this book that added a sense of comedy, while matching the words in a lovely way. The moon, sun, and stars whom Areti visits are beautifully illustrated and show the importance of astrology to Greek culture. The landscape and buildings show the diversity of Greece. The use of certain phrases seem to be unique and may be Greek translations, such as "One time in a time" and "...she took roads, she left roads, until she wore out the first pair of iron shoes." Finally, I really liked how the character of Mr. Semolina-Semolinus was more important than his beauty because his kindness was ten times above all others, but his beauty was only "five times above all others".
I like your comments about the repeated phrases in the Greek folktale - these and other phrases like them are very typical of folktales and make them fun to tell.
ReplyDeleteThe Rooster Who Went to his Uncle's Wedding is very fun to tell with puppets (paper plates are easy) and kids love to participate.
Thanks so much for including my book The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle's Wedding in your article about developing vocabulary through the use of traditional folktales. I strongly believe that tales, as well as songs and rhymes, are an excellent way of enriching children's vocabulary, something that will not only result in increased academic success but will be a gift for life.
ReplyDeleteWhen we tell The rooster... to a group of children we love turning it into a play, and let different children act as each of the characters of the story. It becomes very lively and they enjoy tremendously the experience. While telling it individually I always encourage the children to repeat the cummulative parts with me.
Again thanks so much for mentioning this book, as with all my other retellings of folktales, Half-chicken. The Three Golden Oranges and those included in Tales Our Abuelitas Told I never cease to marvel at the power of folktales, capable to charm children for so many centuries, even now in the midst of all our technological developments.
All best to you and all the readers of your site, Alma Flor Ada