The Twins and the Bird of Darkness: A Hero Tale from the Caribbean

Not sure why but I just didn't like this. So many elements lifted from such a variety of other tales it was almost original, but not really. Author's note did not help. Nor did illustration of 'Joseph's multi-colored dreamcoat' help. I have no idea whether people of any of the islands or cultures of the region of the Caribbean would actually recognize this as their own.

Were settings and allusions less specific it wouldn't be a bad tale. But the basic theme has been done better before. So, I recommend skipping this one.

This is a tale about a Caribbean hero . The king and his daughter, Princess Marie find the kingdom envaded by an evil bird. The bird wants the king's daughter but he refuses,so the bird refuses to leave. The king sends in his army of men but they are easily defeated by the evil bird. What will the king or the bird do next? I think this would be a good book for the students to roll play/act out some scenes from just to get the students really into the story.

Princess Marie is taken by Bird of Darkness. Her father, the kind, made a promise that the man who found his daughter would be rewarded with marrying Princess Marie. Twin brothers Soliday and Salacota were total opposite. Soliday wanted to find Princess Marie while Salacato was lazy, fearful, and selfish and wanted no part. With financial help of his grandmother, Soliday decides to find the Princess. Salacota decides to join Soliday at the last minute and they set sail. When they reach the island, Soliday is ready to take on the Bird of Darkness while Salacota stayed back to eat and drink water. After several days, Soliday defeats the Bird of Darkness but has to return to the boat for his ax. He slips and falls and Salacota refuses to show more help and leaves his brother to go rescue Princess Marie. Salacota and Princess Marie return home but Princess Marie felt like something just was not right and puts the wedding off for one year and one day. One year later, Soliday makes his return home to declare his defeat and he and Princess Marie marry. show less

Summary: A Giant bird descends and captures the princess and takes her away. There were two twins on the island and they were poor. They set out to save the Princess and defeat the bird of darkness. One of the twins marries the princess and they live happily ever after.

Critique of Genre: Folklore, Caribbean island hero tales

Art Media: Acrylic paint

Age: Secondary