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Tukama Tootles the
Flute
A Tale from the
Antilles
illustrated by Synthia
Saint James
Orchard Books, 1994
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*Bank
Street's
Best Children's Books, 1994
*BCCB
Blue
Ribbon Book, 1994
*CCBC
Choices,
1994
*Consortium
of
Latin American Studies
Programs (CLASP)
*Starred
review,
Kirkus
*Starred
review,
Hornbook
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| From
the book jacket: |
Tukama, he’s a wild one. Instead
of helping his grandmother
carry the coal, fetch water, or
dig potatoes, he’s off climbing
up and down the dangerous cliffs
by the sea, all the while
tootling his flute.
“Where you
been, boy?” she asks once Tukama
gets home. “Don’t you know a
two-headed giant runnin’ about
here, loookin’ for wild children
to eat?”
And
don’t you know that such a
question, even such a
possibility, is just enough to
start a boy like Tukama off on
some mischief?
Lively
words and striking oil paintings
show what happens when a young
boy is brave before he is wise.
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| A
little about the book: |
My love of
folktales often leads me to want to
recreate them. Knowing this, my
friends Willie Wilson and Karen
Bertrand suggested I write to
Richard Jackson, who edited their
children's book, Up
Mountain One Time. I did.
And--happy day!--he chose to publish
two of my retellings: Tukama Tootles
the Flute and The
Iroko Man. Tukama
includes a mix of traditional rhymes
and children's chants, and now
"Tukama's song" is available on a CD: This Is
the Day! Storysongs &
Singalongs.
Tukama
was the first children’s book
illustrated by Synthia Saint James,
well known for her bold and gestural
paintings, her USPS postage stamp
(!), and her jacket design for the
bestselling novel Waiting
to Exhale. |
| From
the reviews: |
“...the story will delight listeners
and readers alike with its momentum
and action, and Saint James’ oil
paintings, with their large geometric
forms and bright, predominantly
primary colors, add greatly to the
tale’s appeal.” Booklist
“...it’s a wonderful read- or
tell-aloud, with colloquial dialogue,
lost of repetition, and a satisfying
symmetry in the way Tukama is lured,
step by step, into the giant’s
clutches...and then, bit by bit,
persuades the giant’s wife to let him
out of the bag in which he’s
imprisoned....An outstanding
introduction to a less well-known
folklore.” Kirkus, starred
review
“Retold in a flowing, polished style,
well suited to oral
interpretation....a gift to
storytellers....handsome stylized oil
paintings....” Horn
Book, starred review
“The language is lively and lyrical;
children will want to join in on the
refrains. The bold and simple oil
paintings are striking.” Children’s
book Review Service
“Children will recognize elements of
such classics as Jack and
the Beanstalk in this
atmospheric adaptation....The text
pulses with the rhythms of island
dialect and is laced with the casual
asides of an oral storyteller. Debut
illustrator Saint James lays down
swaths of bold colors for her abstract
representations.” Publishers
Weekly
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