A RING OF TRICKSTERS

A consummate collection from the team behind When Birds Could Talk and Bats Could Sing (1996), combining witty prose with breathtaking watercolors. Hamilton economically delineates the history of and theories behind trickster tales, encompassing the slave trade, the Revolutionary War, and the intertwining of African and American influences. Folktales from America, the West Indies, and Africa follow, featuring the familiar animals—Buh Rabby, Cunnie Anansi, Bruh Buzzard, and others—who use wit and cunning to help others, but always take care of themselves first. Moser, in addition to playing tricks with various typefaces, chooses what detail of fur or animal face to portray, posing an animal on its back like a flirting cat, hanging upside down, or, in the case of a tiger, drowsing in a tree branch, the weight of his limbs palpable. Informative notes on each tale are given in the back of the book, interesting to general readers as well as to specialists. (Folklore. 5-11)