Mabela the Clever

Rating:
Summary: A fun retelling of an African tale
Review: "Mabela the Clever" is retold by Margaret Read MacDonald, with illustrations by Tim Coffey. An introductory note states that the story has its origins with the Limba people of Africa. The book tells the story of the inhabitants of a picturesque mouse village. A cat comes to the mouse village with an astounding offer. But are his promises too good to be true? And what will Mabela, the clever hero of the title, do about the situation?

This is a suspenseful story that is well enhanced by Coffey's whimsical pictures. His colorful artwork is full of details; he also does a good job of using his pictures to enhance the story's characterizations. And in the end, some good lessons are imparted to the reader.

Rating:
Summary: A folktale for being aware and having common sense
Review: I enjoy storybooks adapted from oral storytelling. This story is from the Limba people in Sierra Leone, Africa. The illustrations are simplistic but not meant to be completely realistic. The mice are purple, green, yellow and gray. Mabella, being the main character mouse, is red. All of the mice have ping-pong ball eyes that give them a foolish appearance. She is different than the other mice because she pays attention to the advice her father's advice of listening, looking and paying attention to her surroundings. He also recommends fleeing quickly from bad situations. How will these lessons come into play when the mice meet a pleasant cat inviting them to join a secret cat society?

I really like the last line of the story, "Limba grandparents say, "If a person is clever, it is because someone has taught them their cleverness."

Rating:
Summary: good story, told with colorful, clever illustrations
Review: I just love stories in which small clever creatures outwit big strong stupid ones. They offer children such an empowering message! In this case, the greedy cat is quite clever himself, and the majority of mice are silly and foolish. Only Mabela keeps her wits about her, and she uses her size to her advantage. I do wish that she had required a little more cleverness to resolve the problem. To fully enjoy this story, you'll need an audience of mice to sing the Secret Cat Song with you: boldly, then softer and softer until only Mabela is left to rescue them.

Rating:
Summary: Actually Mable is taught survival skills by her father
Review: Mabela is the smallest mouse in the village and if she is known as "Mabela the Clever" it is because she has been taught to be clever by her father. At the beginning of this retelling of an African story, Margaret Read MacDonald explains that in the early times cats were clever and mice were mostly foolish. However, Mabela had been told by her father that when she is out and about to always keep her ears open and listen, to keep her eyes open and look around, to pay attention to what she is saying when she is speaking, and if has to move to move fast. Of course, all of these lessons will come into play when a cat comes to the mouse village and offers them a special invitation to join the secret Cat Society and to learn all the secrets of the cat. On the way to the initiation the cat teaches them a song to sing the words of which are: "When we are marching, we NEVER look back! The Cat is at the end, fo feng! FO FENG!"

Originally this story was told by the Limba people of Sierra Leone in Africa, and it really is not a tale about cleverness, because what her father tells Mabela is really a basic survival technique for going "out and about" into the jungle. After all, Mabela is not really paying close attention to her surroundings but rather to the trick that the cat is playing on the mice. At the end of the story what is emphasized is that Limba parents continue to tell this story to their children to this day because of the importance of these lessons. The book is illustrated by Tim Coffey, who used acrylic on watercolor paper textured with gesso, which results in a nice technique for representing the brown grass of the plain as well as the fur on the mice and other textured objects. MacDonald also offers a tune for the song the cat teaches the mice to sing for classes that want to enact the story.

Rating:
Summary: Actually Mable is taught survival skills by her father
Review: Mabela is the smallest mouse in the village and if she is known as "Mabela the Clever" it is because she has been taught to be clever by her father. At the beginning of this retelling of an African story, Margaret Read MacDonald explains that in the early times cats were clever and mice were mostly foolish. However, Mabela had been told by her father that when she is out and about to always keep her ears open and listen, to keep her eyes open and look around, to pay attention to what she is saying when she is speaking, and if has to move to move fast. Of course, all of these lessons will come into play when a cat comes to the mouse village and offers them a special invitation to join the secret Cat Society and to learn all the secrets of the cat. On the way to the initiation the cat teaches them a song to sing the words of which are: "When we are marching, we NEVER look back! The Cat is at the end, fo feng! FO FENG!"

Originally this story was told by the Limba people of Sierra Leone in Africa, and it really is not a tale about cleverness, because what her father tells Mabela is really a basic survival technique for going "out and about" into the jungle. After all, Mabela is not really paying close attention to her surroundings but rather to the trick that the cat is playing on the mice. At the end of the story what is emphasized is that Limba parents continue to tell this story to their children to this day because of the importance of these lessons. The book is illustrated by Tim Coffey, who used acrylic on watercolor paper textured with gesso, which results in a nice technique for representing the brown grass of the plain as well as the fur on the mice and other textured objects. MacDonald also offers a tune for the song the cat teaches the mice to sing for classes that want to enact the story.

Rating:
Summary: good story, told with colorful, clever illustrations
Review: Not only is the African tale clever and captivating, but the illustrations are clever as well, and boldly colorful. This book is fun to look at and read, with a nice message for kids about learning to be clever and observant.