The Dancing Turtle: A Folktale from Brazil

The main character of this Brazilian trickster tale is a chubby turtle with an engaging smile, who loves to play her flute and dance. A man captures her and takes her home for a turtle-soup feast the next day. That afternoon, when he leaves her in his son and daughter's care and goes out to work the fields, Turtle promises to dance for the children if they let her out of the cage. Once freed, Turtle pretends to fall asleep, and subsequently escapes. The father returns home and vows to recapture the cunning animal. An ambiguous conclusion allows readers to determine Turtle's fate. An introductory source note explains that although indigenous peoples of Brazil created this folktale, it is now also told as far away as Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Although the oversized watercolor illustrations are colorful and attractive, the human faces are sometimes unnatural looking, and the little girl's arms and legs seem to grow and shrink on alternate pages. While young readers may enjoy identifying the many rain-forest animals hiding in the background scenery, the story is stronger than the art.—Denise E. Agosto, formerly at Midland County Public Library, TX

Copyright 1998 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.