Folktales: Learning Something New

 BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bruchac, James and Bruchac, Joseph. 2003. TURTLE'S RACE WITH BEAVER. Ill. by Aruego, Jose and Dewey, Ariane. New York: Dial Books For Young Readers. ISBN 0803728522.

PLOT SUMMARY:

Turtle's Race with Beaver is a North American Indian (Native American) folktale about a turtle who discovers the pond that he calls home has been taken over by a beaver. This folktale is a retelling of The Tortoise and The Hare except the animals are a turtle and beaver.  The turtle goes into hibernation because of the season changing. While the turtle hibernates, a beaver moves on to the pond: builds a dam and a lodge for him to live in.  When spring arrives, the turtle notices that he has to swim a long stretch to reach shore. Once turtle reaches the shore, he discovers that his rocks are underwater and there is a dam that has stopped the water from flowing. Beaver spots turtle and asks what is doing in his pond and the turtle explains its his home. The beaver doesn't like this response and even thought turtle suggests they share the pond, beaver isn't having it. Beaver challenges turtle to a race; the winner gets to continue living in the pond. Turtle agrees and ultimately, ends up triumphant.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

When I began reading this folktale, I didn't know what I was going to find on the pages. First of all, I was not familiar with Mr. Bruchac(s) writings.  As I read the "authors' note",  it was interesting and insightful to learn that the father and son writing duo were of Native American ancestry and the stories which they wrote about were from the oral traditions. Many tribes of Northeastern America  held many stories and they sounded like other folktales that the Bruchacs' had heard from other tribes in North America as well as Aesop Fables. What made the retelling of this story interesting to read is how the turtle outsmarts the beaver in the race.  One thing I got out of the story is the turtle biting on the beaver's tail and the beaver did not notice. As turtle bit down even harder on beaver's tail; beaver swam faster. The animals who watched from the shoreline were equally cheering for the animals but as the race went on and it looked like turtle was gaining on beaver, more animals cheered for turtle.  Aside from the story, there is the illustrations. The use of pen and ink, pastel, and gouache;  make the illustrations look life-like and colorful.  Mr. Aruego and Ms, Dewey are meticulous in using a watercolor that is opaque and gluelike.  This method makes the colors of the animals standout. Studying the illustrations, it looks like the artists use pen-and-ink to draw the images: setting, animals, landscape before using the gouache method.  By drawing the images first, it gives definition to the animals.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "The artists trademark energy-filled pen-and-ink energy-filled pen-and-ink and gouache illustrations enhance the tale with color and humor."

CONNECTIONS:

This story can be used to introduce comparing and contrasting in literature.  It is also good for talking about oral storytelling and cultural traditions.

*The reviews are my own thoughts and are part of a graduate study program at Sam Houston State University.