Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby

by Lesley Smith

General fiction (Children's/YA)

Genres: Short Stories, Childrens, Classics

24 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2001

Reviews

[Patricia Lamoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brer Rabbit is one of the most entertaining series of books for children, with its roots in old African folk tales but its language and humor very much in America. In fact, there are many different versions of this “tar baby story.

Brer Rabbit has been getting the best of Brer Fox at every turn throughout the series, and Brer Fox is ready to turn the tables. So he builds a huge doll out of tar in hopes that Brer Rabbit will get stuck in it and he can get rid of the rabbit for good.

And Brer Rabbit does fall for it. He thinks it’s a real person and tries to engage in conversation, but instead gets both arms, both legs, and his head stuck in the gooey hot tar.

It would seem that Brer Fox has finally trapped the trickster. But, using a little reverse psychology, Brer Rabbit convinces him to do exactly what is needed to free him from the sticky tar.

Even though there are a lot of words on virtually every page, there always seems to be plenty of room for the illustrations as well. They are crowded and busy, accurate depictions of the story. Each animal has his own character, and these images become part of a child’s favorite memories.

[Kristi · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a clinical psychologist with a specialty in child psych, I often read children's stories - some are from my childhood and I see them in a very different light!!!!!! The Tar-Baby is the second of the Uncle Remus stories published in 1881; it is about a doll made of tar and turpentine used by the villainous Br'er Fox to entrap Br'er Rabbit. The more that Br'er Rabbit fights the Tar-Baby, the more entangled he becomes........................ I hope that Disney, the source for most children my age ( now 77 years old ) did not realize the racism involved with this story from 1881. I no longer see it, its language or imagery as amusing and benign. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[A B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! The edition I read includes important context about the historical significance of Joel Chandler Harris' compilation of Uncle Remus tales. The story doesn't really give any description of what the tar baby looks like. Had I not already known this tale since childhood, I probably would have done a wait-what?? when reading about the tar baby that Brer Fox creates to entrap Brer Rabbit. Brer Rabbit's one-sided conversation with the tar baby gets increasingly funny, and of course there is something very satisfying about a rabbit outsmarting a fox, nature's most clever animal.

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Brer Rabbit and the Birdlime Baby”, rather, maybe? Great story! “Tar babies” were real and used as traps. Buck rabbits become highly aggressive in Spring e.g. “Mad as a March hare” and will attack and/or attempt to copulate with anything remotely lapine. So coating a decoy with a sticky substance birdlime (Ilex aquifolium), most effectively, but tar will do too, was a great way to catch 😋 rabbits.

[Hannah]

The story of Brer Rabbit uses his wits to convince his enemies, fox and wolf, to cast him into a patch of briars rather than to get even with him (Kill him in some way) Whenever he is in a predicament he repeats you can do this but please don't put me in the briar patch. This would be a good book to teach lessons and to help learn old fairytales.

[Lana Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This classic story, "Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby" is a short read. The language in the dialogue is written in the tradition of the Old South, and at times, slows the reading a bit, but worth plowing through.

The"tar baby" illustration shows up in stories from many cultures throughout the world: African, Hispanic, Apache and Cherokee, just to name a few.

Today, we think of "tar baby" as a metaphor for a situation in which further involvement makes it difficult from which to escape. There are also those who consider the term a racial slur.

As I read this story, I noticed Brer Rabbit became offended at the Tar Baby for not responding when Brer Rabbit said hello. He then took it upon himself to teach the Tar Baby some manners.

This story has great depth and many applications. Two applications that stand out to me are:
Brer Rabbit was trying to physically control the actions of another by using force. In our society today, we see this played out in arenas that range from personal relationships (adults and children) to political preferences.

A spiritual application stems from the word "offense." In the Bible, the Greek word for "offense" is "scandalon," meaning "snare or stumbling-block." Satan sets "snares" for mankind, trying to trap us into thoughts and behaviors that are difficult from which to escape, i.e. habits in attitudes or actions.

In this story, Brer Fox, desiring to eat Brer Rabbit, set a trap for him. Brer Rabbit used his thinking skills to overcome the consequences and escaped. I am thankful God provides us a way of escape when we fall into the snares of the enemy.

I think this is one of those books that could be read multiple times, with different treasures surfacing with each read.

[Fred Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

As far as I knew before today, this book was no longer available. I started reading "Tobacco Road", by Erskine Caldwell, and for some reason it reminded me of the "Uncle Remus" stories of my childhood. So I looked them up and they are available on Amazon. The author, Joel Chandler Harris compiled a number of tales told by African Americans while on the plantations of the "Old South". Harris wrote the stories in 1880. They were published again a number of times and Disney created an animated movie "The Song of the South" in the 1950's, I saw it and loved it. To me it was not a smear against African Americans, but a lovely story. It was a lot like "Jungle Book" today. However many did not see it as I did and the stories and books disappeared.

[Ashley Lahr]

A long time ago there were many animals that lived along the edge of the swamp. They got along most of the time but not always. One day Brer Fox decided he was quite fond of Brer Fox but in the sense that he wanted to eat him. Brer rabbit gave him a lot of sass until one day he had enough. He made a tar baby. Brer rabbit gets upset and punches and kicks the baby which leads him stuck. Brer Fox laughs and then tosses him in the briar patch where he escapes.

[Mloy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I understand that maybe for its time this was a classic and the author was trying to capture the essence of an era or a culture from our past, but quite honestly, this reads to me as gibberish. I didn't understand the story at all nor its purpose. I really don't get it at all.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was read to me as a kid over and over again

[Amanda Cone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy folktales and I read Brer Rabbit books as a child over and over. I enjoy the way Brer Rabbit gets out of sticky situations using his wits! One for the library!

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a different edition as a child.

[Hasselhh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had a hard time understanding anything, and what I did was not a good story