Crocodile and Hen: A BaKongo Folktale (I Can Read Book 1 Series)

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Crocodile and Hen: A BaKongo Folktale (I Can Read Book 1 Series)

Paperback(Reprint)

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Paperback(Reprint)
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Overview

Crocodile is determined to eat fat and juicy-looking Hen!

But when he opens his mouth wide to swallow her, Hen calmly says, "My brother, don't eat me," and Crocodile just can't do it. What does Hen mean? How can Crocodile be her brother? Does Hen know something Crocodile doesn't?

Clever Hen outwits the confused and hungry Crocodile in this comic folktale from the Bakongo people of Africa.

Ages 4-6

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About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780064442633
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	12/05/2002
Series:	I Can Read Book 1 Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.18(d)
Age Range:	4 - 6 Years

About the Author

Joan Lexau is the author of many picture books for children including the My First I Can Read Book Go Away, Dog, written under the pen name, Joan Nodset, and illustrated by Paul Meisel. Ms. Lexau lives in Otisville, NY.

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Editorial Reviews

Clever Hen meets Crocodile each day as she searches for food down by the river. Day after day hungry Crocodile tells Hen that he is going to eat her. Just when Crocodile is ready to pounce, spunky Hen calls Crocodile her "brother" and goes about her business. Crocodile is confused. He wonders how Hen could be his sister. He cannot bring himself to eat the fat Hen if they are related. On his way to ask Wise Old Woman about this dilemma, he meets Lizard. Lizard acknowledges how different the two animals are: Crocodile lives in water and Hen lives on land, and so forth. But Lizard reasons that, since Hens lay eggs and Crocodiles lay eggs, they are alike in this way, and so, must be brothers and sisters. This amusing story, which is based on a folktale from the Bakongo people of the Republic of Congo, will intrigue and delight young readers. The text contains enough repetition to help beginning readers master new vocabulary. The illustrations really bring out Hen's saucy personality and Crocodile's bewilderment. This title is a Level 1 book in the publisher's "An I Can Read Book" series. 2001 (orig.1969), HarperTrophy/HarperCollins, Pettenati

Children's Literature

Gr 1-2-Lexau offers an easy-reader version of her picture book Crocodile and Hen (Harper & Row, 1969; o.p.), having modified the sentence structures into simple constructions. Cumulative elements flow smoothly as Crocodile worries about how he can devour Hen when she keeps calling him "my brother" and has no fear of him. Befuddled, he seeks the advice of Lizard to try to understand why he can't savor "that fat, good-to-eat Hen," and his friend offers a simple but satisfactory explanation. Cushman's multicolored, watercolor palette replaces Joan Sandin's green, yellow, and blue shades in the earlier edition. They capture the humor of the situation and the characters' expressions. A well-documented, true-to-its-source folktale.-Nancy Call, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Aptos, CA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Crocodile thinks Hen would make a mighty tasty chicken dinner, until Hen stops him with his jaws agape with a simple, powerful statement: "My brother, don't eat me." Hen confidently turns her back on danger and walks away, leaving Crocodile mystified as to how he can be her brother since they are so different. The patterned story continues with Crocodile longing to devour Hen, and Hen repeating her calm mantra. Crocodile enumerates the differences between the two species, questions other animals about the supposed familial connection, and finally receives an answer from his friend Lizard, who points out that all animals who lay eggs are related, and thus brothers and sisters in a way. Lexau based this skillfully told, mid-level easy reader on a Bakongo folktale from the Republic of the Congo, and this version is a newly illustrated and revised version of her story, originally published in 1969. Cushman (What Moms Can't Do, 2000, etc.) adds to the humor of the tale with his expressive animal characters in pen and ink with a watercolor wash. Beginning readers will eat up this simple but satisfying story with a clever moral, a bit of science, and one hilarious slip from the hungry crocodile: "How good to eat you. Oops, I mean meet you again, Sister." Thoughtful teachers and parents might use this book to spark a discussion of tolerance and harmony among diverse groups or even to introduce the principles of nonviolent resistance and worldwide brother- and sisterhood. (author's note) (Easy reader/folktale. 5-8)

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