THE IGUANA'S TALE: Crick Crack Stories from the Caribbean

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 21, 1969

The six tales shared by the animals during their journey to a new, unparched home don't match the assortment in Anansi the Spider Man for retellability--they're less patterned, and the dialogue especially is less pointed--but as a group, and in the framework of Iguana's growing fear of Hacka Tiger, they make lively, engaging reading. One of the funniest in detail is the one that holds no surprises--the race between Toad and Donkey, or the Tortoise vs. the Hare in a new guise. Several hinge on boasting, like the Frigate Bird's complacence about his fishing skill which costs him his pouched beak, to the eternal benefit of Pelican; so, too, is Tiger Cat, who thought to outwit Turtle, eventually routed. This is Armadillo's story, designed to embarrass Hacka Tiger--who, furious, pounces on Iguana, finds himself holding only Iguana's dispensable tail. The illustrations are more insistent than Marcia Brown's deft sketches for Anansi but the book has a similarly open look, and will give much if not quite as much pleasure.

Pub Date: April 21, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crowell

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION