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ONLY ONE
COWRY
A DAHOMEAN TALE
illustrated
by David
Soman
Orchard,
2000
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*Junior
Library
Guild
Selection
*Bank
Street's
Best
Children's Books, 2001
*Boxed
review,
Booklist
*Children's
Literature
Choice List, 2001
*Notable
Social Studies
Trade Book, 2001
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| From
the
book jacket: |
Dada Segbo, the first king of
Dahomey, wants a bride. He can
afford the
finest gifts to bestow upon her
family, but he prefers not to part
with
any of his wealth. So he offers a
single cowry shell. How could anyone
find a bride for such a pittance?
"I will
find the king a wife for only one
cowry," promises a smart young
fellow named Yo. And, trade by
trade, he
does. But Yo isn't the only clever
bargainer in the kingdom.
Freely
based on African folkore and
strikingly
illustrated with multi-textured
collage art, this witty tale
features
an appealing pair of perfectly
matched deal makers.
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A
little
about the book:
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My father, who studied and collected
African art, suggested I retell an
African cumulative tale for
children. My experience as a
children's librarian and storyteller
taught me there is nothing
more fun than joining in to help
tell the story. So I found an
African tale that had not yet become
a picture book, perhaps because
the trickster hero was just too
mean. I transformed him into a nicer
fellow, though he is still very much
a trickster, still clever and
wily. But I didn't stray far from
the character Yo was to become. As
it
happened,
according to the original Dahomean
storyteller, the king,
completely happy with the lovely and
clever wife Yo found for him,
forbid anyone to complain about Yo's
trickery. And that is why, says
the storyteller, Yo, the nasty
trickster, became a more
likable trickster in future
funny tales.
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From
the reviews:
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“Soman’s
handsome collage art is as strong and
distinctive as Gershator’s text,
deftly capturing the humor of the
story in postures and facial
expressions. The effective combination
of rhythm, rhyme, and wordplay
in the tale’s refrain (‘Well, well,
I’m doing well, thanks to Dada
Segbo’s shell’), preceded each time by
the cumulative list of items
traded, is just one example of
Gershator’s thoughtful attention to
the
story’s oral roots.” Horn
Book
“...good-humored cumulative picture
book.... [Soman] brilliantly
captures the story’s light tone with
scenes of smiling figures posed
gracefully against simplified,
evocative backgrounds. Young readers
and
listeners will laugh along with Yo and
his beautiful coconspiritor as
the two slyly prize a lavish bride
price from the smug sovereign.”
Booklist, boxed review
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