The Twins and the Bird of Darkness: A Hero Tale from the Caribbean

by Robert D. San Souci

After Princess Marie volunteers to become the evil bird's hostage in order to save her kingdom, Soliday learns of her bravery and works to slay the bird in order to save her, yet when his twin brother, Salacotta, takes the credit for his courageous actions, Soliday must find a way to show that he is a liar.

Genres: Picture Books, Cultural

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Robert Daniel San Souci (October 10, 1946 – December 19, 2014) was a multiple award-winning children's book author, who resided in San Francisco, California. He often worked with his brother, Daniel San Souci, a children's book illustrator. He was a consultant to Disney Studios and was instrumental in the production of the film Mulan, for which he wrote the story. He studied folklore in graduate school. He died after suffering a head injury while falling from a high height in San Francisco in December 2014. He was only 68 years old.

Reviews

[Melanie Gaum]

I like these kinds of stories: a good, hard-working sibling and a mean, lazy sibling. I do think Salacota was forgiven too easily, though. The illustrations were beautiful and vibrant.

[Cheryl]

Not sure why but I just didn't like this. So many elements lifted from such a variety of other tales it was almost original, but not really. Author's note did not help. Nor did illustration of 'Joseph's multi-colored dreamcoat' help. I have no idea whether people of any of the islands or cultures of the region of the Caribbean would actually recognize this as their own.

Were settings and allusions less specific it wouldn't be a bad tale. But the basic theme has been done better before. So, I recommend skipping this one.

[Erica Cowhick]

This is a hero tale from the Caribbean. The king and his daughter, Princess Marie find a kingdom that is invaded by an evil bird. The bird had claws of gold and wings that were blacker than night. The frightened people asked the bird what does he seek and he answered that he wanted to claim the kind's daughter as my tribute or he would never leave. The king refused to surrender his daughter and sent his army to drive the bird away, but the bird easily defeated the king's forces. The princess left her father's palace secrely and journeyed to where the bird stayed. Soliday and Salacota, twin brothers, went looking for the Princess. They used a boat and an ax to free Princess Marie. With Marie, the brothers sailed home where the king welcomed them with great joy. He announced that Marie would marry the man who had rescued her.

Activities
1. The students will create an open mind portrait.The students will choose a character from the book and on one side have the students draw that character. On the other side, the students will draw the characters throughts.
2. students could create a venn diagram when the princess is deciding which brother she wanted to marry. Students can have the things that the two men differ and things that are similar for both of them.

[Lilly]

This book is about two twin brothers that like the same girl.