Wonderful illustrations and a nice version of an old folktale. ( )

The old story of the wily, scrappy rabbit and the lengths he will go to get what he hasn't worked for. Bruh (brother) Wolf is just as wiley, and creates a tar baby to catch Bruh Rabbit for himself, and to keep him from sneaking food from Wolf's garden. Since Rabbit thinks so much of himself, he is insulted with the Tar Baby Girl (who he thinks is a black girl) won't answer him and he swats her and finds himself stuck fast. Wolf thinks he has triumphed and can't help teasing Rabbit, who responds by the familiar double talk that he can endure anything but not being thrown in the briar patch. Of course that is exactly Wolf does, and Rabbit, born and raised there, laughs at Wolf and runs free. The pictures in this book are absolutely beautiful.

This is a story about a rabbit that tricks the wolf for his peanuts and corn. The wolf tries to catch him with a girl rabbit made out of tar. However in the end the rabbit outsmarts the wolf and gets away. This plantation era fairytale makes for a challenging read as far as picture books go. The dialect is very different and some of the words are all new to me like dayclean meaning dawn. I really enjoyed the illustrations. ( )

It was a far time ago, and before a first winter snow, that Bruh Wolf had a run-in with pesty Bruh Rabbit.” So begins Hamilton’s version of the classic tale of the never-changing trickster rabbit. Hard-working Bruh Wolf, tired of having his fields raided, sets up a “scarey-crow.” But lazy Bruh Rabbit, who has been eating Bruh Wolf’s crops, just knocks it down and goes for the goods without any regard to Bruh Wolf’s efforts. So Bruh Wolf makes a sticky Tar Baby Girl which catches Bruh Rabbit for sure. Bruh Wolf finds him the next morning and is ready to eat him but of course Bruh Rabbit’s talks his way out of another “sticky” situation by pleading “Don’t throw me in the briar bush,” Once Bruh Rabbit gets away he ridicules Bruh Wolf’s mercy offering by laughing at him and saying “I was born and bred here. Wolf, you so foolish! You’ll never catch me again!” Indicating the cycle will continue. ( )

Horn Book (Horn Book Guide, Spring 2004)
The late Virginia Hamilton's funny, satisfying version of the old trickster tale uses the phrasings and rhythm of Gullah speech: "Rabbit, him, is tricky-some--about to fool a body and not do a lick of work himself." Her retelling is zesty and conversational, making a great read-aloud. Ransome uses watercolors to depict the green farm and countryside. Though wearing human clothing, the animal characters are otherwise realistically depicted. Category: Nonfiction-Folktales and Nursery Rhymes. 2003, Scholastic/Blue Sky, 40pp, $16.95. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.