Brother Rabbit and Chameleon teach a greedy king the importance of generosity and friendship.
- ISBN: 9780439439602
- Published: 2003 , Scholastic Press
- Themes: Compassion and kindness
- Descriptors: Africa, Awards, Folklore and Fairy Tales, Mali, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9)
- No. of pages: 32
Baba Wagué Diakité’s picture book, The Magic Gourd, can be enjoyed and appreciated on many different levels. On the story level, it tells of a time of drought and famine in Africa when the kind-hearted Brother Rabbit stops his search for food to help a trapped Chameleon out of a prickly thorn bush. After being rescued, Chameleon asks Brother Rabbit to stick his arm back into the thorn bush to retrieve a gourd. Even though Rabbit wants to be on his way to find food for his family, he acquiesces and carefully extricates the gourd. Chameleon then rewards Rabbit’s efforts by giving him the gourd which magically fills itself with food. Rabbit returns to his family and friends where he generously shares the bounty of the gourd. The story doesn’t end there because a greedy king, Mansa Jugu, hears of the gourd and takes it away from Rabbit to make bowl-after-bowl of gold for himself.
After losing the gourd, Rabbit and his family grow thinner and thinner with each passing day. Rabbit resumes his search for food and Chameleon returns to give him another gift to help him get his magic gourd from Mansa Jugu. At this point, Wagué Diakité’s retelling offers a twist upon other magic pot stories in that Rabbit solves his problem and the greedy king earns redemption.
On another level, Wagué Diakité’s decorated tiles, dishes, bowls and mud cloth designs reveal the thought and care that went into creating this book. An author’s note explains the symbolism of each design which, in turn, offers hidden facets of meaning that encourage the reader go back and reflect more deeply upon the wisdom offered by this simple story.