- What the Rat Told Me: A Legend of the Chinese Zodiac by Marie Sellier, ad.
Once upon a time—“at the dawn of the dawn of the world,” to be exact—the rat and the cat were best friends. However, when the emperor of the world invited all of the animals in creation to visit him before sunrise, the cunning rat left his lazy friend sleeping while he, the rat, sneaked between the horns of the ox to ride up the Jade Mountain. Pleased with the twelve animals that journeyed to see him, the emperor of the world gave each of them a year for all time, with Rat the owner of the first year. Having slept through the whole event, however, the cat received no year at all, leaving him and the rat mortal enemies. This colorful, collaborative adaptation of an ancient Chinese legend comes to the U.S. translated from its original French publication. Highly stylized linoleum prints employing a strict palette of black, white, and red pack a graphic punch; black figures are often silhouetted, [End Page 333] contrasting with the vivid red stamp of a Chinese character on every page, and subtle texturing of the ink adds dimension to the crisp planes of color. Storytime participants will enjoy these bold visuals, the text’s conversational tone and apt personifications of the zodiac animals, and mention learning their own zodiac sign using the provided list of years and corresponding animals at the back of the book. The creators have delivered a complete package, presenting the Chinese character for each of the animals as well as a zodiac wheel and source note in the end matter. Visually compelling and engaging in its observations, this pourquoi tale could find use in both the library and the classroom on its own or in conjunction with other animal folktales or in contrast with Ed Young’s retelling Cat and Rat (BCCB 11/95); also consider it as an unexpected but enjoyable supplement to a lesson on the animal kingdom.