Brer Rabbit and the Wonderful Tar Baby - 1975

[pete9012S]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brer-Rabbit-Wo ... 0340184302

Don't think I've seen this paperback version before - anyone got a copy?

[Anita Bensoussane]

'Fraid not, Pete, though I do have the tar-baby story elsewhere and I enjoyed it as a child.

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

I had the story in "Uncle Remus Stories" and my mum made puppets to retell the tale.

To quote Wikipedia

Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African American folktales compiled and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris and published in book form in 1881. Harris was a journalist in post-Reconstruction era Atlanta, and he produced seven Uncle Remus books

I would be happier if this book was described as "retold by Enid Blyton" because they aren't her original stories

Viv

[Anita Bensoussane]

Enid Blyton did retell a lot of the original African-American folktales but she also made up new tales of her own using the same characters, including some in which Brer Rabbit comes to Old Thatch and meets Enid Blyton's dogs, Bobs and Sandy! I'm not sure which stories appear in that volume, though I agree that it should be made clear that Brer Rabbit and his friends (and enemies!) are traditional African-American characters - and any stories which are retellings of the originals should be labelled as such.

[pete9012S]

Thanks Anita & Viv.
Yes Viv, I kept seeing Disney versions of the same book title and was puzzled!

[Katharine]

Yes, I'm fairly sure I've got a copy of that somewhere.

[IceMaiden]

I had a deans edition of EB's Brer Rabbit Book when I was little and this was one of my favourites from it. I thought the way Enid wrote that Brer Rabbit was getting more and more worked up believing the tar baby wouldn't let him go was very funny with a lot of humour in it.

Here's a copy on ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brer-Rabbit- ... ect=mobile

There's another one too but it's £100

[Katharine]

I definitely do have that version of the book - I spotted it on my shelves the other day whilst looking for something else.

I've also got a couple of the Dean's Brer Rabbit books, one of which I have on the go at the moment. I know some of the stories are repeated in different books, but Enid seems to have written quite a number of Brer Rabbit stories. I'm guessing she must have had a soft spot for him?

[Anita Bensoussane]

Enid herself was clever, competitive, full of ideas and loved tricks and jokes, so it's no wonder that she warmed to Brer Rabbit. He's not the most principled of characters, but then it's all about survival - he has to be cunning and outwit his enemies by any means in order to avoid becoming rabbit pie or rabbit stew!

[IceMaiden]

Enid herself was clever, competitive, full of ideas and loved tricks and jokes, so it's no wonder that she warmed to Brer Rabbit. He's not the most principled of characters, but then it's all about survival - he has to be cunning and outwit his enemies by any means in order to avoid becoming rabbit pie or rabbit stew!

So do I, it's got me into trouble more than once too! Mainly with people who couldn't take a joke. Maybe that's why I also like Brer Rabbit . He might be a bit underhand but he's fun and cheerful, and those he tricks are trying to eat him anyway.