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Genre:  Animals / Black Comedy / Manners / Payback

Year Published: 2001

Year Read:  2005

Publisher: August House Little Folk

I have read almost every folktale from every country around the world, but I have rarely read any folktales from Denmark and this is one of the first folktales I have read from Denmark. “Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale” is a Danish folktale (as said in the title) that is retold by Margaret Read MacDonald along with illustrations by Julie Paschkis and it is about how a greedy cat ends up eating everything and everyone in his path! “Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale” is a truly hilarious tale that every child will love!

Now I had read an earlier version of this tale by Jack Kent many years ago, but it has been so long since I had read that version that I do not remember much about it, so I cannot really compare the two versions together in this review. In this version, Margaret Read MacDonald's writing is simple yet hilarious at the same time as she repeatedly uses the phrase stated by Cat:

“Oh, I'm meow, meow FAT!
Cause I'm a HUNGRY, HUNGRY CAT!”

And that phrase always cracks me up because the cat is always saying he is fat, but it is his way of warning people about how he could eat them up if they upset him. I also found the idea about a small cat eating everything in his path to be extremely odd yet interesting at the same time since there is no way that a small cat can eat everything up in a small amount of time and since this is a folktale, the oddity of the Cat's situation is to be expected. I really loved the character of Mouse as she is extremely resourceful especially during Cat's rampage and I loved how she resolved the problem at the end and despite Cat's greedy nature, Mouse always treats Cat with kindness which truly showed what a great friend she really is to Cat. Julie Paschkis' illustrations are extremely hilarious, especially of the orange cat growing bigger and bigger every time he eats something and how his green eyes are of different shapes since one eye is round while the other eye is narrow which sort of gives Cat a crazed look throughout the book. It was also interesting on seeing how the background is basically all white spaces which clearly made the characters stand out more in their situations.

Parents should know that the scenes with the cat eating everyone might upset smaller children, especially if small children do not like seeing scenes of people being eaten by some kind of creature. Also, there is a brief scene where someone is cut up ( although I will not reveal who it is) however, this scene is not that graphic and it probably would not be too troubling for children, but still parents should be mindful of this scene before they read this book to their children.

All in all, “Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale” is a truly wonderful book about the consequences of being too greedy and the importance of treating other people with respect that many children will learn from easily. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to the cat eating people up and due to the brief violent image.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

We received this book to give an honest review.

Oh A and I had a blast reading this book to the point of every time I would say "Land on my Knees" A would want to say it instead of me. 

This is a really adorable book that I think children from ages 3 on up would really enjoy. You have a young girl who is pickin' her peas unknown to her until she hears something that a rabbit is eating what she isn't pickin'. When she captures this rabbit he is very clever to get away from her but how does he do it? 

The pictures were amazing with this book, I think this is one story we will be reading again and again especially since we get to sing. 

Genre:  Animals / Manners / Folktale / Hungary / Magic

Year Published: 2007

Year Read:  2015

Publisher:   Albert Whitman & Company

Now, I have read many unusual and creative folktales over the years, but I have never read a folktale quite like this one! “Little Rooster’s Diamond Button” is a Hungarian folktale retold by Margaret Read MacDonald along with illustrations by Will Terry that is so bizarre yet hilarious that any child would enjoy reading this book!

The story starts off with Little Rooster finding a beautiful diamond button in the ground and he decided to give the button to his mistress. Unfortunately, the king comes along and he ends up stealing the diamond button from Little Rooster to put into his treasure chamber. But when Little Rooster went after the king and demanded that the king should give him back his diamond button, the king got extremely angry and he ordered Little Rooster to be thrown down the well! However, it turns out that Little Rooster has a magic stomach that could consume anything on command and Little Rooster ended up drinking up all the water in the well! This ended up making the king even angrier and he then ordered Little Rooster to be thrown into the fire!

Will Little Rooster’s magic stomach get him out of this situation and will he get his diamond button back?

Read this book to find out!

Margaret Read MacDonald has done it again in retelling an ancient folktale and making the story innovating for the readers! I loved the way that Margaret Read MacDonald retold this story as I found the story to be pretty hilarious and creative and I was intrigued with Little Rooster’s predicament in trying to get his diamond button back from the king. I loved the fact that this story teaches children about the consequences of being too greedy and I loved how brave and determined Little Rooster was in trying to confront the King and get his prized diamond ring back. I think it took a lot of courage from Little Rooster to confront the King about his actions and it shows children that if a great wrong has been done to you, you should try to stand up for yourself to make things right again. But probably the best part of this story was the fact that Little Rooster has a magic stomach that is able to consume anything on command! I found that to be pretty interesting for this story because even though I have read some folktales where characters are able to consume large amounts of food (The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship), I am still amazed that there is a story where a character has a magical stomach and is able to use that stomach to get themselves out of various predicaments! Will Terry’s illustrations are hilarious and brightly colored and they greatly complement the energetic mood of this story! I also loved the images of the king having big purple baggy pants as it makes him look quite silly and it shows just how silly and arrogant he really is.

Overall, “Little Rooster’s Diamond Button” is a fantastic read for children who want to read folktales from Hungary and who want a good book that would make them laugh! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre: Family / Animals / Trickery / Folktale / Africa

Year Published: 2001

Year Read:  2015

Publisher Albert Whitman & Company

I have read many African folktales over the years and I have enjoyed almost every single one of them! So, I stumbled upon this new African folktale retold by Margaret Read MacDonald called “Mabela the Clever” along with illustrations by Tim Coffey and man, it was a truly fantastic tale that every child should read!

Mabela is the smallest mouse in her village and even though it has been said that the mice are all foolish creatures, Mabela proves to be more clever than the other mice, especially since her father had taught her how to be more aware of her surroundings in this little quote:

“Mabela, when you are out and about, keep your ears open and LISTEN.
Mabela, when you are out and about, keep your eyes open and LOOK AROUND YOU.
Mabela, when you are speaking, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU ARE SAYING.
Mabela, if you have to move, MOVE FAST!”

One day, the Cat came to the Mouse Village and she invited the mice to her secret Cat Society where she can teach them the secrets of being a cat. All the mice were excited about this and they met up with the Cat at her house and the Cat tells them that they need to learn this song:

“When we are marching,
We never look back!
The Cat is at the end,
Fo Feng!
Fo Feng!”

The Cat then tells the mice that they must march in a straight line towards the forest and as the mice were marching while singing the song, the Cat ended up capturing each mouse one by one due to the fact that no one was watching the Cat as she performs this heinous act.

Can Mabela save the other mice?

Read this book to find out!

Oh man, how could I not check this book out before? Margaret Read MacDonald has done an excellent job at capturing the humor and the tension of this tale as we laugh at the mice following the Cat and suspecting that nothing is wrong, while at the same time, we feel some tension in the story in hoping that the mice make it out of the Cat’s grasp by the end of the book! I also loved the fact that Mabela’s father was able to teach his daughter about the dangers of the outside world and how to avoid those dangers as it shows the importance of a parent trying to protect their children by giving them warnings about surviving in the outside world ahead of time. Tim Coffey’s artwork had the perfect blend of intensity and humor as the mice look more goofy with their large vacant eyes while the cat looks more menacing with her slanted green eyes and orange fur that really makes her stand out from the colorful atmosphere of the artwork.

Parents should know that the cat might scare smaller children, especially since she wants to eat the mice and even tricked them into her little game. Parents might want to warn their children about the consequences of going off with strangers without knowing the full facts of the situation and teach children how to defend themselves whenever they are in such a situation.

Overall, “Mabela the Clever” is a truly fantastic book about the importance of heeding warnings about dangerous situations in life and showing how parents can be extremely resourceful when it comes to teaching their children about the ways of the world. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the cat might scare smaller children.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog