TUNJUR! TUNJUR! TUNJUR!

After a childless woman prays for a child, a cooking pot (tunjara in Arabic, leading to the sound of a rolling pot, “Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur!”) appears and the woman is grateful. The pot begs to go to the market and the mother reluctantly lets her go, after making her promise to behave—but the little pot is young and greedy. The pot steals honey from a rich couple and then jewels from the king and queen. Finally the little pot is punished: She is filled with goat manure! The heavy-lidded men and women in the bright acrylic paintings have a comic-book feel, but the patterned clothes, textiles, architectures and borders are more authentic. Relatively few Palestinian tales have been made available in picture-book form in this country. MacDonald is a well-known storyteller, and the original story was collected during a live telling. The tale has an oral quality that makes it easy to read or tell with repetitive phrases and lively rhythms. (author’s note) (Picture book/folktale. 6-9)