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Please, Malese! A Trickster Tale from Haiti
Full of sly wit and the vibrant colors and rhythms of Haiti.
"My toes are suffering," says Malese as he stretches out in his hammock. "They need new shoes, that's what they need." Malese has not a penny to his name and nothing to trade, but does he worry? Not at all. His pockets may be empty, but his mind is full of clever ideas. It isn't long before he's thought up a trick to get himself some fine new shoes. From marketplace to mountainside, Malese outsmarts his neighbors with trick after trick, until they've had enough and are determined, for once, to get the best of him.
Readers will giggle when they see who gets the best of whom in this fresh and funny trickster tale, illustrated with art that explodes with the brilliant colors of Haiti.
"My toes are suffering," says Malese as he stretches out in his hammock. "They need new shoes, that's what they need." Malese has not a penny to his name and nothing to trade, but does he worry? Not at all. His pockets may be empty, but his mind is full of clever ideas. It isn't long before he's thought up a trick to get himself some fine new shoes. From marketplace to mountainside, Malese outsmarts his neighbors with trick after trick, until they've had enough and are determined, for once, to get the best of him.
Readers will giggle when they see who gets the best of whom in this fresh and funny trickster tale, illustrated with art that explodes with the brilliant colors of Haiti.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published August 31, 2001
About the author
Amy MacDonald
40 books11 followersAmy MacDonald is an American author of children's books. Her works include Little Beaver and the Echo, which has been translated into many languages around the world, and Rachel Fister's Blister. Her first book, a satire of Jill Krementz's children's books, was A Very Young Housewife.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 16, 2019
Relaxing in his hammock one day, Malese notices that his shoes are so worn, his toes are peeking out! How can he convince the village shoemakers to make him a new pair, when he has no money? With Malese, there's always a way, and soon two separate shoemakers find themselves the victim of this clever trickster. Likewise, when Malese decides to make rum cake, the rum sellers soon find themselves cheated out of some of their product. Eventually, the villagers get so fed up, they lock Malese in the local jail. Will he learn his lesson? Or will he play one more trick...?
Of course, the answer to this last question is never in doubt, Please, Malese! being a trickster tale! With a humorous narrative - based on the tale of "a shrewd peasant" collected in 1929 - and bold, colorful illustrations that accentuate the fun, this winsome retelling of a Haitian folktale is sure to please young readers, particularly those with a taste for traditional stories.
Of course, the answer to this last question is never in doubt, Please, Malese! being a trickster tale! With a humorous narrative - based on the tale of "a shrewd peasant" collected in 1929 - and bold, colorful illustrations that accentuate the fun, this winsome retelling of a Haitian folktale is sure to please young readers, particularly those with a taste for traditional stories.
February 24, 2019
Tricksters are, well, jerks, and while i enjoyed this, i might hesitate to read it to my nephew unless i was planning to leave soon afterwords
March 14, 2017
I wanted to give this book 5 stars for the GORGEOUS art and fun beats, but I don't really care for trickster stories where the con man wins, but it's a personal preference and doesn't reflect on the quality of the book itself, and this book is gorgeous nonetheless.
February 12, 2010
Please, Malese! A Trickster Tale from Haiti is appropriate for students in kindergarten through third grade. (However, some may take offense to the fact that he makes a rum cake by tricking people at the market into giving him rum; therefore, use your discretion.)
An end note to this book explains that in Haiti, the trickster is known as Malese, derived from the French "malice". Sometimes Malese is evil and sometimes he is mischievous, but above all, he enjoys taking advantage of people, including his friends who can't seem to catch on to his cunning ways. This story was adapted from the original, The Magic Island, written in 1929 by W.B. Seabrook.
At the beginning of this tale, we see Malese, lounging in a hammock, with toeless shoes that have been worn out. His first task is to get new shoes, so he visits two shoemakers. Because each of the shoe makers will only make one shoe for him, he tricks them by asking one to make a left shoe and the other the right. Then, he claims he does not want the shoes. When Malese feigns disapproval, each of the shoe makers throws their shoe into the bamboo bushes, and Malese collects them both. The next day, Malese is very hungry and decides to make a rum cake, but he doesn't have any rum. You guessed it; he tricks people into giving him rum at the market. On the way home from the market, Malese gets tired and sees his friend Bouki's mule. Malese tells Bouki that he is merciless for making his mule carry so many baskets. Bouki retorts that if Malese is so sensitive to the needs of the mule, that he should carry the baskets. Bouki feels as though he has finally outwitted Malese. But Malese gets onto the mule and rides it all the way home, carrying Bouki's baskets on top of his head. All of Malese's friends are mad at him for taking advantage of them, so they decide to lock him up for thirty days. Malese is content with their punishment because he doesn't want to fix his gate, his wall, or roof. His friends keep bringing him food in the mud hut where he is being contained and while Malese enjoys himself, his friends are miserable. After one day, they decide that they've had enough of Malese and they would rather fix his roof, wall and gate than have to endure him. Malese strikes again!
This book would be useful in a unit on traditional literature, especially in comparing and contrasting traditional tales from different cultures. It could also be used to teach about the theme of friendship. The book is not overtly didactic in nature and does not moralize, but if students need a lesson in friendship, this book could serve that purpose as well.
An end note to this book explains that in Haiti, the trickster is known as Malese, derived from the French "malice". Sometimes Malese is evil and sometimes he is mischievous, but above all, he enjoys taking advantage of people, including his friends who can't seem to catch on to his cunning ways. This story was adapted from the original, The Magic Island, written in 1929 by W.B. Seabrook.
At the beginning of this tale, we see Malese, lounging in a hammock, with toeless shoes that have been worn out. His first task is to get new shoes, so he visits two shoemakers. Because each of the shoe makers will only make one shoe for him, he tricks them by asking one to make a left shoe and the other the right. Then, he claims he does not want the shoes. When Malese feigns disapproval, each of the shoe makers throws their shoe into the bamboo bushes, and Malese collects them both. The next day, Malese is very hungry and decides to make a rum cake, but he doesn't have any rum. You guessed it; he tricks people into giving him rum at the market. On the way home from the market, Malese gets tired and sees his friend Bouki's mule. Malese tells Bouki that he is merciless for making his mule carry so many baskets. Bouki retorts that if Malese is so sensitive to the needs of the mule, that he should carry the baskets. Bouki feels as though he has finally outwitted Malese. But Malese gets onto the mule and rides it all the way home, carrying Bouki's baskets on top of his head. All of Malese's friends are mad at him for taking advantage of them, so they decide to lock him up for thirty days. Malese is content with their punishment because he doesn't want to fix his gate, his wall, or roof. His friends keep bringing him food in the mud hut where he is being contained and while Malese enjoys himself, his friends are miserable. After one day, they decide that they've had enough of Malese and they would rather fix his roof, wall and gate than have to endure him. Malese strikes again!
This book would be useful in a unit on traditional literature, especially in comparing and contrasting traditional tales from different cultures. It could also be used to teach about the theme of friendship. The book is not overtly didactic in nature and does not moralize, but if students need a lesson in friendship, this book could serve that purpose as well.
August 10, 2009
This book is just pure fun. The pictures are gorgeous, simply drawn but full of vibrant colors. Malese tricks his neighbors into giving him everything from shoes to rum for a cake. The end up throwing him in jail for a month, but of course Malese is pretty sly. By the end, not only is he out of jail, but his neighbors are fixing up his house for him—for free of course.
At first I thought it's kind of a shame that Malese never learns not to trick his friends and neighbors, but this is a traditional trickster story and a trickster is always a trickster. On top of that, I feel like Malese' friends and neighbors do love him, in spite of how he treats them. I like to think of them as more amused than angry in the end.
My daughter,9, loves this story too. It does makes her laugh and she gets a kick out of Malese' antics. And we can read it in about 10 minutes, which makes it nice for bedtime reading.
At first I thought it's kind of a shame that Malese never learns not to trick his friends and neighbors, but this is a traditional trickster story and a trickster is always a trickster. On top of that, I feel like Malese' friends and neighbors do love him, in spite of how he treats them. I like to think of them as more amused than angry in the end.
My daughter,9, loves this story too. It does makes her laugh and she gets a kick out of Malese' antics. And we can read it in about 10 minutes, which makes it nice for bedtime reading.
January 14, 2015
This may be a cultural story from Haiti, but it is not what I would recommend for children. This man cons, steals, and fraudulently forces others to do his work for him. He is distrusted by all in the community. He is the picture of dishonesty and laziness. The story starts out with Malese lamenting the fact that he has no money. It doesn't take long to figure out why! He is allergic to work evidently. LOL
I was not liking this book by page 3, but we finished the whole book and then had a serious discussion about honesty, integrity, and hard work.
I was not liking this book by page 3, but we finished the whole book and then had a serious discussion about honesty, integrity, and hard work.
February 3, 2011
This is a fun trickster tale from Haiti. It's about a man who thinks of clever ways to get stuff for free. That doesn't sound like a book a teacher would want to read to a class but I think the kids will really enjoy it. The teacher would definitely have to explain along the way and make sure s/he tells the students that this is just a made-up story and we shouldn't do the things he is doing. I saw my teacher use this book for one of her read-alouds for a lesson on Haiti.
April 19, 2012
A trickster like you've never seen. I enjoyed reading this book and made me remember all the stories I heard when I was younger. Students would love reading this book and if not, at least looking at the beautiful and bright pictures. This book can be used teach to teach students right from wrong and use to teach folklore. You can also use this book for lessons on main idea, supporting details, inferences and sequence of events.
Grade: 3-4
Grade: 3-4
September 25, 2011
Malese is a trickster who can get anything he wants for free. When the people in town figure out that he has been tricking them, they decide to lock him up at punishment. Malese only tricks them again, though, and manipulates the people in town to fix his house for him.
September 28, 2011
This is a good book to teach others that stealing is not the right thing to do. Malese goes around his village taking things he needs. Malese is a trickster, and the hope would be that the students would learn from his mistakes.
July 17, 2013
A good trickster tale. The setting being Haiti is also nice. I wish the pictures were a little more my taste but art is subjective. A little long for little ones plus a little hard for the very young to understand what is happening.
August 17, 2008
This was a fun book to read. I actually used one of the three stories as a math lesson to explore fractions.
September 20, 2012
I liked it this conniving fellow got everyone to do everything for him. He was smart and witty but still it was lazy and selfish of him.
January 1, 2013
Here is another Anansi-family story - it had me laughing out loud!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews