The Hidden Feast: A Folktale from the American South

by Martha Hamilton, Mitch Weiss, Don Tate (Illustrator)

Overview

Barnyard animals learn a lesson about manners and passing judgments in this moral tale drawn from Joel Chandler Harris’ Uncle Remus stories. -Booklist ReviewWhen the barnyard animals are invited to a party by their neighbors, they dress in their Sunday best and set off for a day of merriment. But when dinnertime arrives, the famished animals are perplexed to find a simple meal of cornbread. Most of them are polite but Rooster turns his beak up in disgust and rudely leaves the party, missing the treasures hidden for the guests. The surprising twist at the end of the story explains why, ever since, Rooster scratches in the dirt. Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss capture the rhythms and idioms of this rural Southern tale, and Don Tate's whimsical acrylics serve up a regular hoedown of fun. This barnyard story teaches readers about sharing, caring and fairness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874837582
Publisher:	August House Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	01/27/2006
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.68(w) x 11.18(h) x 0.35(d)
Lexile:	AD620L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss Bio: Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss are a husband-and-wife writing and storytelling team known as "Beauty and the Beast Storytellers." They have traveled the world sharing their passion for the oral tradition and the art of telling great stories. They have co-authored thirteen books and two audio recordings with August House. A number of their books have won numerous awards including Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature (awarded by Bank Street College of Education), Parents' Choice, National Parenting Publications Awards, and Storytelling World. Mitch and Martha's story collections include world tales that they tell in a conversational manner so that children can easily comprehend and then share the stories by telling them to other students. Parents and teachers can find a wealth of information on how to get children excited about reading, telling world tales, and making up their own stories at Mitch and Martha's website.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-Gr 2-What might have been an engaging pourquoi story is instead tedious and anticlimactic. When the barnyard animals get invited to a party, they dress in their "Sunday best" and proceed to the neighboring farm. "Rooster led the way, strutting and crowing. Duck waddled behind. Cow moseyed along in her own sweet time. Pig strolled under his umbrella to keep from getting a sunburn. Goat pranced about, thinking of the feast they were going to eat. Horse trotted along-" and on, and on, with everyone painstakingly accounted for. When they finally get to the party, it's more of the same, with half a dozen unremarkable party games exhaustively remarked upon. Eventually everyone sits down to eat, and most of the guests politely disguise their dismay at being presented with plain cornbread. But Rooster stalks off in a huff-and later learns that each loaf of bread was baked around a succulent meal. Since then Rooster can always be found scratching at the ground, hoping never to miss out again. The story does not have an arc so much as a slow, steep climb followed by a precipitous drop. Tate's beautifully laid-out illustrations are a delight; it is unfortunate that they did not have a better narrative.-Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

An invitation to a party brings neighboring animals to visit and play Pin the Tail on the Donkey (Donkey really doesn't want to play that), Hide and Seek and Horseshoes using Horse's shoes. Singing and dancing follows, and then the barnyard animals sit down to dinner. When that turns out to be large pots of cornbread, Rooster rudely leaves, declaring cornbread to be his everyday fare. However, once he learns that a wonderful and varied feast was hidden in the cornbread, he sulks and is never again content to see only what is on top. That's why to this day, he scratches and scratches beneath the food he finds. Tate's lushly painted acrylics capture the animals at their silliest and rooster at his sulkiest. This mostly literary retelling is filled with contemporary cliches and incorporates the motifs and plot structure of the traditional African-American tale. Fun for telling or reading. (Picture book/folktale. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews