School Library Journal Review
| PreS-Gr 2-An original pourquoi story from the Louisiana bayou that pits lazy Crawfish against his best friend. Crab has caught a beautiful fish for his dinner, but when he shows it to his hungry pal, Crawfish mocks it as "ti-tiny" and "itsy bitsy" and inveigles Crab into giving him his "insignificant" catch. Crab goes back to the lake to find the entirely imaginary huge fish that Crawfish says he saw there but returns empty-handed and angry. Confronted by Crab, Crawfish crawls backward and falls into a big pile of mud, where he can be found to this day, hiding from Crab. The story is illustrated with simple, brightly colored collages. A glossary of a few Cajun phrases and some facts about crawfish are included. A humorous choice for storytimes.-Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. |
Kirkus Review
| In this original pourquoi tale, hungry Crawfish spies the fish that Crab has just caught for his dinner. Wily Crawfish convinces Crab that the fish is much too small for him, goading him into relinquishing his catch into Crawfish's clutches and scuttling further down the bayou in search of a bigger challenge. Contrary to Crawfish's story, Crab finds no big fish in the bayou. He threatens to throw Crawfish into the mud, and Crawfish protests so much that it seems this is heading straight into Br'er Rabbit territory. It turns out Crawfish's protests are genuine, though. As he tries to back away from Crab he accidentally digs a tunnel in the mud and falls into it, where he will live from now on. A serviceable trickster tale jazzed up with Cajun French phrases defined both in the text and in a glossary. The rudimentary collages that serve as illustrations are unappealing and occasionally confusing. Learn and perform this one if you must. Skip the pictures. (Crawfish Fun Facts) (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission. |
