Brother Rabbit

by Minfong Ho

Book Overview

Meet Cambodia's Br'er Rabbit This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688125522
• ISBN13: 9780688125523
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.3" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 4 years and up
• Grade Range: Preschool and higher

Customer Reviews

Brother Rabbit outwits a crocodile several times

A favorite theme in Cambodian folktales is that of a small but clever animal getting the better of someone who is stronger and meaner but not quite as smart. In explaining the background of this story authors Minfong Ho and Saphan Ros tell us how farmers and villagers in Cambodian society saw themselves as being small and weak in comparison to the powerful landlords, soldiers, and kings above them. Ho and Ros also see "Brother Rabbit" as being particularly appropriate given the way Cambodia had been the pawn of larger nations during the Vietnam War and then suffered under the despotic rule of the Khmer Rouge. Consequently, stories in which the tables were turned and the weak came out on top were particular beloved and told by grandparents to village children in the cool of the evening or performed as folk plays called "jikay." The story tells how one day Brother Rabbit was hopping along one morning when he spied a patch of tender rice seedlings being planted in a field across the river. The problem was how to get across the river to steal into the field for a feast and when a crocodile comes swimming along Brother Rabbit believes he can get a free ride across. However, that only proves to the first encounter between the pair and what I especially like about the story is that Brother Rabbit does not get the better of crocodile just once, but repeatedly in the telling of the tale, as well as an elephant. Many readers will obviously be reminded of Brer Rabbit from the tales of Uncle Remus. "Brother Rabbit" has illustrations by Jennifer Hewitson, which were done in watercolor paints and inks that artfully captures the culture from whence this tale sprang.

A clever rabbit outwits a vicious crocodile

This is a charming and well written cambodian folk tale about a clever rabbit that manages to outwit a much larger and ferocious crocodile. The message is brains over brawn, a theme most children easily relate to. Adults will also enjoy the intelligence and wit of the prose as well as the colorful and and detailed illustrations.