From Anansi the Spider to B’rer Rabbit, trickster tales appear in cultures the world over. Knutson offers a less familiar trickster in the lovable Cuy the Hamster of Peru. The gullible Tío Antonio the Fox is his most constant victim, for the quick-thinking Cuy can ever turn near defeat into smashing victory. He manages to get the fox to hold up a rock to prevent the sky from falling and to hide in a den to await the fiery end of the world. He also fools a farmer into thinking he’s a very small field worker so he can eat an endless supply of alfalfa. Even an encounter with a sticky figure à la “Tar Baby” turns into triumph. Using heavy black outline and tones of blues, browns, and yellows, the wood-block illustrations zoom in on the characters and capture all the humor of the zany situations. An all-around laugh-out-loud delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-10)
