Review — Sister Tricksters

By Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CA
School Library Journal — August 21, 2006

These eight stories, featuring characters like Molly Cottontail, Miz Grasshopper, and Miz Goose, are energetically retold from Anne Virginia Culbertson's long out-of-print At the Big House (Bobbs-Merrill, 1904). The informative introduction states that the motivation for this book is to reintroduce female tricksters who are otherwise sparsely represented in folklore. An occasional pointed statement implies that females are more adept at thinking than males.

Tales include an amusing story about Mistah Fox, who pretends to be dead; a humorous pourquoi tale that explains why roosters and toads eat grasshoppers; and a hilarious tale about Mistah Bear, who sits on a pile of pumpkins because Miz Goose convinces him that they are eggs that will hatch the family he so dearly wants.

Delicious dialect and expressions convey a rural Southern flavor, yet the text is never hard to read or understand. In one story, Molly Cottontail responds to Mistah Fox, "I know I'm no more to look at these days than a lean crow with a graveyard cough." Stunning, richly colored, detailed, and playful paintings showing animals dressed in lavish finery introduce each lively tale. The illustrations and the large-print text stand out clearly on cream-colored backgrounds. This book warrants a place in all folklore collections.

Title Details: Sister Tricksters
Author: Robert D. San Souci
Illustrator: Daniel San Souci
Interest Level: GR 3-6

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