Zomo the Rabbit A trickster tale from West Africa

Gerald McDermott

Book - 1992

Zomo the Rabbit, an African trickster, sets out to gain wisdom.

Saved in:

Children's Room Show me where

jE/McDermott
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
Children's Room jE/McDermott Checked In
Subjects
Genres
Picture books
Published
San Diego : Harcourt Brace c1992.
Language
English
Main Author
Gerald McDermott (-)
Physical Description
unpaged : ill
ISBN
9781451765618
9780606101073
9780152999674
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

/*STARRED REVIEW*/ Ages 4-8. Wildly exuberant, full of slapstick and mischief, this version of an enduring Nigerian trickster tale is a storyteller's delight. The words have the drama and immediacy of the oral tradition ("Zomo! / Zomo the rabbit. / He is not big. / He is not strong. / But he is very clever"). As Zomo talks to Sky God and outwits Big Fish, Wild Cow, and Leopard, the book design reinforces the surprising exploits of a trickster who is cunning but may not always be wise. In his figures and tropical landscapes, set against bright yellow sunlit pages, McDermott blends the brilliant geometric patterns of West African kunte cloth with styles from theater and collage. There's a sense of helter-skelter movement, as if Zomo may dart off the edge of the world, as if he can barely contain his dancing energy. McDermott's note points out Zomo's cultural descendants, including Brer Rabbit. In The Fortune-Tellers , Hyman's West African setting for Alexander's original trickster tale is meticulously detailed with a precise sense of place. McDermott's tale is a larger-than-life story of wit and animal energy, for laughing out loud. (Reviewed Sept. 15, 1992)0152999671Hazel Rochman

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

This straightforward retelling by the Caldecott Award-winning illustrator of Arrow to the Sun features bold, vibrant shapes and hues. When Zomo (``He is not big. He is not strong. But he is very clever'') beseeches the Sky God for wisdom, he is set three impossible tasks: he must bring back ``the scales of Big Fish in the sea . . . the milk of Wild Cow and the tooth of Leopard.'' The cunning rabbit dupes the three creatures into giving up these prizes, but returns to discover that the joke's on him. His newfound wisdom? To run like mad from the three very angry animals. The tale moves along with the swift concision of a good joke, right down to its satisfying punch line. McDermott's gouache illustrations in brilliant hues of fuchsia, green and orange recall the color and geometric lines of West African textiles. The dazzling artwork shows Big Fish dancing until his scales cascade to the ground, the scrawny Wild Cow ramming a palm tree and getting stuck there, and Leopard tumbling down a hill and knocking out his tooth. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 3-- McDermott tells the story of Zomo the rabbit, the trickster who originated in Nigeria and who lives on in the lore of the Caribbean and the United States. When the irresponsible black rabbit asks the Sky God for wisdom, he is given three impossible tasks: he must get the scales of Big Fish, the milk of Wild Cow, and the tooth of Leopard. He does all these things and in the end the Sky God rewards him with wisdom, and warns that next time he sees his victims, he had better run fast. This colorful rendition of the story is done with the kind of bold graphics that gave McDermott's early works their immediate popularity. The horizon is low on the page so that there is a great sense of air and space. The bright gold of the sky adds warmth. The illustrations masterfully integrate a variety of styles the artist has used in the past. His characters are more realistically drawn than in his earliest work, but they are adorned with dramatic graphic patterns. It is larger and more visually expansive than McDermott's Anansi the Spider (1972) or The Magic Tree (1973; o.p., both Holt). With its small but triumphant hero clad in a colorful dashiki and a cap, its dazzling design, and its great good humor, this story will be a pleasure to use with children. --Marilyn Iarusso, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

Neither big nor strong, Zomo is clever. However, as he finds out from Sky God, cleverness and wisdom are not synonymous. To attain wisdom, Zomo has to, through trickery, obtain the scales of Big Fish in the sea, milk Wild Cow, and deliver the tooth of Leopard to Sky God. The West African tale of the quest for wisdom is told with colorful illustrations and a fascinating plot. From HORN BOOK 1992, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A rabbit asks the sky god for wisdom, and learns that he must first fool three animals. McDermott tells the tale in punchy, short sentences and sunny paintings that echo African styles and motifs. Zomo is a bucktoothed comic figure whose antics will keep readers laughing; and though he accomplishes his tasks more easily than Ananse in Haley's A Story, A Story, the prize is smaller too--the wisdom Zomo garners from the sky god is that ``next time you see Big Fish, Wild Cow, or Leopard...better run fast!'' (Folklore/Picture book. 5-8)

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.