Brer Rabbit and the Wonderful Tar Baby

by Joel Chandler Harris, Henrik Drescher (Illustrator)

Relates how the wily Brer Rabbit outwits Brer Fox who has set out to trap him.

Genres: Childrens

1 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Joel Chandler Harris was an American journalist born in Eatonton, Georgia who wrote the Uncle Remus stories, including Uncle Remus; His Songs and His Sayings, The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation, (1880), Nights with Uncle Remus (1881 & 1882), Uncle Remus and His Friends (1892), and Uncle Remus and the Little Boy (1905).

The stories, based on the African-American oral storytelling tradition, were revolutionary in their use of dialect and in featuring a trickster hero called Br'er ("Brother") Rabbit, who uses his wits against adversity, though his efforts do not always succeed. The frog is the trickster character in traditional tales in Central and Southern Africa. The stories, which began appearing in the Atlanta Constitution in 1879, were popular among both Black and White readers in the North and South, not least because they presented an idealized view of race relations soon after the Civil War. The first published Brer Rabbit stories were written by President Theodore Roosevelt's uncle, Robert Roosevelt.

Reviews

[Traveller]

I admit that I'm totally biased here. Loved this as a kid. :)

[Ronyell]

This is a Grammy-award nominated story that is masterfully done by the folks at Rabbit Ears. Danny Glover's raspy yet calming narration and Taj Mahal's solo guitar music helps complements the story of those two tricksters, Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox.

Danny Glover does a great job at narrating this story as he provides inflections throughout the story such as going deep when he does Brer Fox and going high-pitched when he does Brer Rabbit. Danny Glover's narration is calm and energetic and makes this story great to listen to on the ears. Taj Mahal's solo guitar music is excellent as the music greatly matches the story's calm mood and southern roots.

Although, I found nothing inappropriate about this story, I felt that Henrik Drescher's illustrations were a little awkward for this story. Since, the mood of the story is calm and sweet, Henrik Drescher's illustrations are a bit wild and blunt and the illustrations usually take the attention away from the main story. I did not like how the contraption came to be as it looks like a black jug that has wobbly legs attached to it instead of an actual person, which is normally seen in the other versions of this story.

Overall, this is a great story that fans of the Brer Rabbit would greatly appreciate. Both Danny Glover and Taj Mahal make a great team at providing the southern theme for this story. However, the illustrations may need to be improved to match the mood of the story.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Kaethe]

I don't remember any of the other stories Harris wrote in any detail, but this one sticks in my mind. AS with so much else, blame Disney.

[Emily Holter]

I chose to read this book because I have heard it's old tale before. I first did a book walk, and I was amazed at all the beautiful illustrations throughout the book. The colors and the creative drawings of the animals and the forest will surely catch children's attention.

I sat down to read it with a few kindergarten students the other day, and I couldn't help but become frustrated as I was reading it. The story is written in such a unique way, it was hard to those students, and even me, to follow along. I believe this vocabulary to be just about right for a fifth grade class, if that. There is too much slang written in this book, for example; words like, "brethren," "reckon," "fricasseed," and way more! It wasn't an easy read.

The kindergarten students that I was reading to seemed to enjoy the rising action of the story, where Brer Fox had enough of Brer Rabbit's sass, so he decided to trick him. This part had them asking me questions about sass. Even though it was hard for them to understand, they had a few laughs at what Brer Fox did with a tar baby. They also enjoyed the climax, where Brer Rabbit was just way too smart for Brer Fox, and tricked him into throwing him into the briar patch.

The part of this tale that I didn't like was all the violence incorporated into it. Brer Rabbit tells Brer Fox that he can drown him, fling him, hang him, put him on fire, skin him..etc. I was cringing as I was reading that part to the kindergarten students. In fact, I found myself skipping some of the words.

Overall, I don't see myself using this book in my classroom any time soon. If I had to use it though, I would use it to teach my students all the hard vocabulary in it and to look at the illustrations. This tale is a classic, but not appropriate.

[Noah]

This is a lavishly and beautifully illustrated retelling of a classic, American folktale. That having been said, pine tar–the tar of the titular, "Tar Baby"–is golden. Depicting the tar baby as pitch black like Henrik Drescher does here risks perpetuating the racist connotations of the story which it has accrued over the years, not least due to Disney's Song of the South but more importantly because of the misappropriation and abuse of the phrase, "Tar Baby", as a slur by ignorant bigots. This is a shame because I adored this tall tale of one trickster prevailing over another growing up. Drescher's illustrations are a delight otherwise and the denouement made me smile.

[Hannah Holthaus]

This is a story about a fox and a rabbit who did not get along. The rabbit was more clever than the fox and the fox finally had him trapped in a bunch of tar. When the rabbit was trying to get the fox to let him go, he kept telling the fox that he would hate to go to this pasture instead of being drowned or tortured in other ways. The fox was not smart and let the rabbit go to a pasture, where he just hopped away from the fox. I did not find this story very interesting but there might always be that one student who would enjoy it.

[Megan Gavin]

This book was very cleverly put together. This story is about a fox and a rabbit who are very competitive and sassy with each other. The fox tricks the rabbit into getting stuck in a container of tar. The rabbit then tricks the fox into unexpectedly letting him go. This book would be really good for teaching a lesson on trickery.

[Sierra Dirksen]

I was not impressed by this traditional story. It is the tale of a fox and a rabbit, and the fox wants to eat the rabbit. He traps the rabbit in a tar, but the rabbit is quick to get free. Overall, the book does not seem like one that would interest younger children.

[James Reff]

format and wording was awkward and not good

Could not read half of it because the words were all messed up. Obviously not formatted for kindle. Was disappointed by the telling of this story I loved as a kid.

[Ksenia Roeder]

we were overwhelmed by vocabulary, pretty difficult to read. very ok illustrations. classic story poorly adapted for kids

[Brittany Cullen]

the fox tried his hardest to get the rabbit but the rabbit outsmarted him at everything he tried. This book can teach to use your cleverness to think of ways to get out of problems and situations that may not be good ones. and to outsmart your enemies if they are picking on you. it was a fun tale that i havent read before and teaches a great lesson not to give up

[Alex]

This book is about Brer Rabbit and Brer fox and how they do not get along. Eventually Brer fox makes a tar baby and Brer Rabbit gets stuck in it but he uses reverse psychology to get Brer fox to free him.

[Katrina Frankson]

At first glance, it appears to be a simple children's story, but when digging deeper, it is seen that not only is this based off of an old West Africa tale--the stories of nasty, upper-hand Briar Fox and clever, tricksy Briar Rabbit represent slave owners and whites vs. slaves. Brilliant.