Sister Tricksters: Rollicking Tales of Clever Females

by Robert D. San Souci, Daniel San Souci

Rollicking tales of clever females. Everyone remembers the exploits of Br'er Rabbit and his cohorts Br'er Fox, Br'er Possum, and other sly characters. But while these tales were circulating among slaves in the southern United States, another set of stories was passed along just as enthusiastically … only here the clever tricksters were female. Who better to tackle the stories of these sister tricksters than the San Souci brothers? Utilizing a contagiously rhythmic, pitch-perfect dialect, writer Robert gleefully interprets the exploits of Molly Cottontail, Miz Grasshopper, Miz Duck, and Miz Goose against worthy (and not-so-worthy) foes such as Mistah Slickry Sly-fox, Mistah Rooster, and Mistah Bear. Brother Daniel's comically realistic paintings capture the slapstick frenzy of these characters engaged in battles of wits against the rural Southern landscape that nourished the tales in their infancy. These clever females teach readers the importance of courage, resourcefulness and sharing.

Genres: Animals, Childrens, Picture Books, Folk Tales, Fairy Tales, Folklore

69 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

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

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Instead of Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox, we have Molly Cottontail and Mistah Slickry Sly-fox. Based on stories from Anne Virginia Culbertson's At the Big House which was originally published in 1905.

[Bhan13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A seven-year-old and I enjoyed these stories very much, it was nice to read Southern idiom without all the text being mangled to try to visually recreate a Southern accent. The tales are not PC, there are stereotypes and a few beatings with bags of cornmeal, etc. but we are used to old-fashioned stories so that didn't bother us, and it was nice to read about some strong, tricky females (and males).

[Raven Grider · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Robert San Souci, to being with! I enjoyed this book about "clever women" because it doesn't have your typical male hero. San Souci's illustrations are always engaging, but these are not as interesting as I had hoped. Overall, I would use this book to incorporate the importance of going against stereotypes or teaching about how great females are. :)

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

A re-telling of the Br’er Rabbit tales with a few female characters taking a more prominent place in the tales. The 19th century style was long winded and hard to understand, even with the old dialects and accents rounded off a bit. Also, cringe worthy.

[Stacy Kirkman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has some racist and violent undertones. The "deep-South" dialect was hard to read and I just didn't like the stories. It was trying to re-tell some classic Uncle Remus stories with female lead roles but missed the mark with me.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may have liked this more had I not already heard a number of the stories in it.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weirdly switches from dialect to not dialect, and the illustrations are pretty subpar. Still, it's nice having the emphasis switch to female characters in some old folktales

[Rani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always remember that "A Woman sees all 'round and over and underneath and on both sides of a thing..."

[Felita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love it women females get the best of men. This book is being used for a 5th grade class visit.