The following review is in partial fulfillment of the requirements for LS5603.20, Genre 2—traditional literature.
1. Bibliography
McKissack, Patricia. 2006. Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters. Ill. by André Carrilho. New York: Schwartz & Wade. ISBN 0-375-83619-5
2. Plot Summary
This book is a collection of “porch lies”—humorous, exaggerated stories based on tales that the author heard as a child while sitting on her grandparents’ front porch in Tennessee. There are ten stories, including stories about: a man who manages to get free pies from two different women, one who never pays for anything even though everyone knows that he has a hundred-dollar bill in his pocket, one who wins an argument with the devil and decides that his mama was right all along, and one who wins a lying contest by telling the truth. Other stories are about a granny who adopts Frank and Jesse James, a man whose life is saved by the weight of a feather, one who protects himself from the King of the Ghosts with an earth bone, and one poor soul who has died twenty-seven times. Each story stands alone, with the exception of the last two, which combine to tell the story of one man.
3. Critical Review
Porch Lies is a collection of ten stories. The common thread that runs throughout the book is that the stories are ones that were told on the porch of the author’s grandparents when she was a child. They are not familiar stories, but they mention some familiar people (Frank and Jesse James) and they involve some familiar themes like making deals with the devil, weighing a soul with a feather, and departed spirits returning to earth. The stories occur in the South, but they are universal. They could happen anywhere because they are really about human nature, not about a specific area of the country. Each story is relatively short and has just a few characters. The plot moves along quickly and is very easy to follow. Each story in the collection is briefly introduced by McKissack. She mentions the original storyteller and sets the scene for the story. Unlike some traditional literature, the stories mention specific dates. Often the storyteller figures out the date when the story occurred by linking the time to events in his own life, as people in real life often do. (“I’ll always remember the year, ‘cause it was ‘fore baby Lucille was born in ‘forty and after sister Cinty got hooked up with that notorious John Henry George in ‘thirty-eight. Yes, it was nineteen thirty-nine.”) The book has a table of contents and an author’s note, but no other reference information.
Typical of the stories is The Best Lie Ever Told, a tale about Dooley Hunter, “who won the state liar’s contest five consecutive years—that’s in a row—one, two, three, four, five.” The story uses dialogue that is believable. The reader can almost hear the southern accents when McKissack uses words like “‘bout” and “gotcha” and “hollerin’.” She injects humor in unexpected ways. In describing the main character of the story, she says that Dooley had “all twenty hairs combed, and every one of his four teeth brushed.” She describes his appearance while he is on stage at the liar’s contest by saying that his eyes “looked like a deer’s in the headlights,” and “Dooley looked like a lump on a log.” Who needs a picture with a description like that?
The stories in McKissack’s book are pure entertainment, but each one manages to convey a lesson about human nature along with the laughter.
André Carrilho has illustrated each story with one black and white picture. The people in the pictures are cartoon-like caricatures. Their exaggerated features help emphasize the exaggerated nature of the stories. Porch Lies is the first children’s book that he has illustrated.
4. Review Excerpts
Booklist: “Without using dialect, her intimate folk idiom celebrates the storytelling among friends, neighbors, and family as much as the stories themselves….In black and white, Carrilho’s full-page illustrations—part cartoon, part portrait in silhouette—combine realistic characters with scary monsters.…In surprising twists and turns that are true to trickster tradition, the weak and exploited beat powerful oppressors with the best lies ever told. Great for sharing, on the porch and in the classroom.” — Hazel Rochman
The Washington Post: “Grand fun for reading aloud.”
School Library Journal: “…stories make for great leisure listening and knowing chuckles.…Great fun to read aloud and the tricksters, sharpies, slicksters, and outlaws wink knowingly at the child narrators, and at us foolish humans.”--Susan Heple
5. Connections
This is a book that should be read aloud. After hearing the stories, children would enjoy presenting a reader’s theater with one or more of them.
Ask students about any family stories or legends that they may have.
Also by Patricia McKissack:
The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural.
ISBN: 0-679-81863-4
Goin’ Someplace Special. ISBN: 0689818858
Mirandy and Brother Wind. ISBN: 0394887654
Color Me Dark. ISBN: 0-590-51159-9
By Patricia and Frederick McKissack:
African-American Inventors. ISBN: 1-56294-468-1
Black Diamond. ISBN: 0-590-45809-4
Black Hands, White Sails: the Story of African-American Whalers.
ISBN: 0-590-48313-7
Carter G. Woodson: the Father of Black History. ISBN: 0-7660-1698-6
Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters.
ISBN: 0-590-43027-0
1. Bibliography
McKissack, Patricia. 2006. Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters. Ill. by André Carrilho. New York: Schwartz & Wade. ISBN 0-375-83619-5
2. Plot Summary
This book is a collection of “porch lies”—humorous, exaggerated stories based on tales that the author heard as a child while sitting on her grandparents’ front porch in Tennessee. There are ten stories, including stories about: a man who manages to get free pies from two different women, one who never pays for anything even though everyone knows that he has a hundred-dollar bill in his pocket, one who wins an argument with the devil and decides that his mama was right all along, and one who wins a lying contest by telling the truth. Other stories are about a granny who adopts Frank and Jesse James, a man whose life is saved by the weight of a feather, one who protects himself from the King of the Ghosts with an earth bone, and one poor soul who has died twenty-seven times. Each story stands alone, with the exception of the last two, which combine to tell the story of one man.
3. Critical Review
Porch Lies is a collection of ten stories. The common thread that runs throughout the book is that the stories are ones that were told on the porch of the author’s grandparents when she was a child. They are not familiar stories, but they mention some familiar people (Frank and Jesse James) and they involve some familiar themes like making deals with the devil, weighing a soul with a feather, and departed spirits returning to earth. The stories occur in the South, but they are universal. They could happen anywhere because they are really about human nature, not about a specific area of the country. Each story is relatively short and has just a few characters. The plot moves along quickly and is very easy to follow. Each story in the collection is briefly introduced by McKissack. She mentions the original storyteller and sets the scene for the story. Unlike some traditional literature, the stories mention specific dates. Often the storyteller figures out the date when the story occurred by linking the time to events in his own life, as people in real life often do. (“I’ll always remember the year, ‘cause it was ‘fore baby Lucille was born in ‘forty and after sister Cinty got hooked up with that notorious John Henry George in ‘thirty-eight. Yes, it was nineteen thirty-nine.”) The book has a table of contents and an author’s note, but no other reference information.
Typical of the stories is The Best Lie Ever Told, a tale about Dooley Hunter, “who won the state liar’s contest five consecutive years—that’s in a row—one, two, three, four, five.” The story uses dialogue that is believable. The reader can almost hear the southern accents when McKissack uses words like “‘bout” and “gotcha” and “hollerin’.” She injects humor in unexpected ways. In describing the main character of the story, she says that Dooley had “all twenty hairs combed, and every one of his four teeth brushed.” She describes his appearance while he is on stage at the liar’s contest by saying that his eyes “looked like a deer’s in the headlights,” and “Dooley looked like a lump on a log.” Who needs a picture with a description like that?
The stories in McKissack’s book are pure entertainment, but each one manages to convey a lesson about human nature along with the laughter.
André Carrilho has illustrated each story with one black and white picture. The people in the pictures are cartoon-like caricatures. Their exaggerated features help emphasize the exaggerated nature of the stories. Porch Lies is the first children’s book that he has illustrated.
4. Review Excerpts
Booklist: “Without using dialect, her intimate folk idiom celebrates the storytelling among friends, neighbors, and family as much as the stories themselves….In black and white, Carrilho’s full-page illustrations—part cartoon, part portrait in silhouette—combine realistic characters with scary monsters.…In surprising twists and turns that are true to trickster tradition, the weak and exploited beat powerful oppressors with the best lies ever told. Great for sharing, on the porch and in the classroom.” — Hazel Rochman
The Washington Post: “Grand fun for reading aloud.”
School Library Journal: “…stories make for great leisure listening and knowing chuckles.…Great fun to read aloud and the tricksters, sharpies, slicksters, and outlaws wink knowingly at the child narrators, and at us foolish humans.”--Susan Heple
5. Connections
This is a book that should be read aloud. After hearing the stories, children would enjoy presenting a reader’s theater with one or more of them.
Ask students about any family stories or legends that they may have.
Also by Patricia McKissack:
The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural.
ISBN: 0-679-81863-4
Goin’ Someplace Special. ISBN: 0689818858
Mirandy and Brother Wind. ISBN: 0394887654
Color Me Dark. ISBN: 0-590-51159-9
By Patricia and Frederick McKissack:
African-American Inventors. ISBN: 1-56294-468-1
Black Diamond. ISBN: 0-590-45809-4
Black Hands, White Sails: the Story of African-American Whalers.
ISBN: 0-590-48313-7
Carter G. Woodson: the Father of Black History. ISBN: 0-7660-1698-6
Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters.
ISBN: 0-590-43027-0
No comments:
Post a Comment