CHINYE

A thin version of a relatively familiar tale. Orphaned Chinye comes back from a dangerous errand with a magic gourd that proves to be filled with riches. Her spoiled stepsister Adanma sets out to fetch another, but in her arrogance gets one containing a destructive wind. This differs from other renditions in that Chinye isn't rewarded for any virtue (she simply complains to an old woman, who takes pity on her), while the telling is so cursory that readers will be uninvolved. Safarewicz dresses her figures in elaborately patterned traditional costumes that stand out brightly against jungles painted in large, sweeping strokes—visual drama that the text never matches. The tale gets richer treatment in San Souci's Talking Eggs (1989). (Folklore/Picture book. 6-8)