Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit Library Binding Edition by Spagnoli, Cathy, Wall, Lina Mao published by Children's Book Press,U.S.

by Cathy Spagnoli

In this well-known Cambodian tale, Judge Rabbit solves the problem of a mischievous tree spirit that has taken on human form.

Genres: Asia, Folk Tales, Picture Books, Childrens, Cultural

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1991

Reviews

[Willow · Rating 3 out of 5]

We enjoyed this trickster tale from Cambodia.

[Daniel Te · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant folktale. I liked that the tree spirit seemed nice at first, knowing that pretending to be the husband would make both the wife and the spirit happy. It gets more morally questionable when the spirit husband continues to pretend to be the husband when he comes back though.

Judge Rabbit is a good character. I think the quote from Lina Mao Wall at the “About the Story” section sums this up well: “The character of Judge Rabbit shows good self-esteem and self-confidence. He believes in his ability to solve problems. He doesn’t care how he looks or how little he is compared to other animals. We tell Judge Rabbit stories to our children at a very young age to encourage them to be self-confident, intelligent, gentle, kind, and willing to help others out of their trouble.”

With this context, Judge Rabbit clearly is a good influence, and honestly, I would recommend reading these stories to the children.

[Wetdryvac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nifty.

[Gina Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great children's book to give as a gift. Unlocks culture by metaphorical stories. My son loves it.

[Kanatochi Kon]

Good

[Jean-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read this to complement our middle ages history lesson about Southeast Asia.