Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl by Virginia Hamilton

Summary

Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl by Virginia Hamilton is about a rabbit who is always up to no good. In this story, Bruh Rabbit decides he doesn't want to do any work planting in the field, instead he sneaks out at night and steals crops from Bruh Wolf. Bruh Wolf tries all sorts of things to try and deter Bruh Rabbit from stealing his food, but to no avail. One day Bruh Wolf comes up with an idea to make a girl rabbit out of tar, this way when Bruh Rabbit sees it, he will try and get the attention of the girl rabbit and he will get stuck when he touches her. This is exactly what happened. Bruh Rabbit was stuck in the tar by his hands, his feet, and even his chin! Bruh Wolf comes along bragging that he finally caught Bruh Rabbit. He tells Bruh Rabbit that he ought to throw him into the briars. Bruh Rabbit begs him not to, so naturally, that's exactly what Bruh Wolf does. When Bruh Rabbit lands in the briar patch he yells back to Bruh Wolf that he has lived in the briars all his life, thank you. Briar Rabbit escaped to cause mischief again.

Evaluation

I really enjoyed reading this story. I know I say that about every book but it's true! I love the watercolor illustrations and the Gullah speech included in the story, even though sometimes it was a little hard to understand. There's an 'About This Book' section in the back that explains where this story came from and also the definitions for the Gullah words which made it much easier. I liked the story of Bruh Rabbit and I remember the Disney version from when I was a kid. The only thing I wondered was why Bruh Rabbit gets away in the end with no repercussion. After reading the 'About This Book' section I learned that during slave times, the slaves telling these stories,  identified with Bruh Rabbit because small and helpless compared to the other animals, just like they were. I could see after that why Bruh Rabbit got the best of Bruh Wolf, because that is what you need to do to survive.

Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivasan

Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivansan is about an owl who makes his rounds to all of his nocturnal animal friends. He partakes in lots of nightly activities with various different animals. In the end he asks his mom what the end of night is like. She describes the coming of dawn beautifully and when she's finished she realizes that little owl has fallen asleep, so now he still doesn't know what the end of night is like!

This book is great for a bedtime story. It interests curious children who wonder what animals do at night while they are sleeping, just as owl wondered what it was like when he is sleeping. I really enjoyed reading this book. I love the illustrations with the black backgrounds throughout the book, it really makes the images pop. The story is simple and told in such a way that you can't help but like little owl. The ending when you find out he's fallen asleep is my favorite part.

Zoo Girl by Rebecca Elliot

Zoo Girl by Rebecca Elliott is the story that is told with no more than a few words per page. Elliott's illustrations really tell the story. There is so much texture in the illustrations and this is what got my attention in the first place. 

Zoo Girl is about a little girl who lives in an orphanage. She feels alone because she doesn't have any friends or family. The orphanage takes a trip to the zoo and she accidently gets left behind. She makes the best of a bad situation and starts to make friends with all of the animals and she has a great time. She ends up getting found by the zoo keepers and she pleads with them not to take her back to the orphanage. In the end the zoo keepers adopt her and she gets to keep her animal friends and have a family.

This book is great for toddlers and up. It is simple since it only has a few words per page and it would be a great way to introduce adoption. What I really liked about this book is the illustrations. Elliott put so much texture and detail into each page, it's really nice. Even with such few words, she really makes you feel for the poor little zoo girl who has no family. She does this all with illustrations and it really works.