Draft:Who's In Rabbits House?
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| Author | Verna Aardema |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Folktalk |
Publication date | January 1, 1977 |
| Media type | Children's picture book |
| ISBN | 9780140547245 |
The book Who’s In Rabbits House? by Verna Aardema is a 1977 shortened and retold version of an Eastern African folktale. Illustrated by Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon, this book received many awards including the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award and a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year award in 1977.[1] The book is also commonly used in schools as a way to educate children on different cultures.[2] The story follows a rabbit who is distraught over a creature called The Long One being in her house. Throughout the story, a multitude of animals offer their assistance in getting it out of her house however they all seem to make it worse. Finally, a frog, who was underestimated since the beginning, comes up with a plan to trick The Long One outside. This plan works and it is revealed that The Long One which they had all been so frightened of was simply a caterpillar.
Plot
[edit]Actors from the Maasai village prepare for the play Who’s in Rabbit’s House by putting on costumes and rehearsing lines. Villagers gather and when the curtains open, a stage with trees, a blue blanket representing a lake, and a small hut is revealed. Through the images in the book, we can see people with animal masks and orange clothing set the scene of a rabbit whose house is located beside a lake, and every day all types of animals are shown passing by this hut, addressed as ‘Rabbit’s house’ to drink from the lake.
One day, Rabbit couldn’t get in her house and was startled by a loud voice saying “I am The Long One. I eat trees and trample on elephants. Go away or I will trample you!”. Rabbit argued with The Long One and the creature continued to threaten her. She sat down on a log to think about what to do and a frog noticed and asked if she could help. The rabbit was annoyed, laughing at the frog for its size and saying she wouldn’t be able to help. A jackal wanting to drink from the lake passed by Rabbit's house and, noticing that something was wrong, asked who was in the house. The Long One replied the same way as it had when Rabbit had asked it that same question. “I am The Long One. I eat trees and trample on elephants. Go away or I will trample you!” Upon hearing the scary voice and threat, the jackal ran away. This made the frog who had hidden behind a tree laugh to herself. Rabbit called the jackal back to beg her to help and Jackal had an idea to gather sticks and pile them up by the door. Jackal planned to light the sticks on fire to burn The Long One but Rabbit protested, saying that the fire would also burn down her house.
A leopard came along next and offered to help. Her question about who was in the rabbit’s house got the same response. The leopard wasn’t scared and started to scratch at the house, threatening The Long One back. Rabbit, who was worried about the state of her house told the leopard to go away and started fixing her roof where the leopard attacked it. The same thing happened when an elephant tried to help by stomping on Rabbit’s house, resulting in a ruined lawn. When a rhinoceros tried to help by scooping the house on its thorn, Rabbit ended up being thrown into the lake where the elephant had to rescue her. Each time an animal tried and failed to help, the frog hiding behind the tree laughed at their attempts.
Finally, the frog asked once again if she could help Rabbit, saying she had an idea. When Rabbit let her, she made her voice loud and told the long one that she was a spitting cobra that would slip into the house and blind it with poison. This worked and The Long One emerged from of the house, saying it was only joking. All of the animals started laughing when they saw that they had been scared of a caterpillar. All of the animals returned to drinking water while the frog continued to laugh.
Theme
[edit]Helping Others In Need
[edit]Who’s In Rabbit’s House by Verna Aardema has an overarching theme of the ability and responsibility to offer help to someone in need. The entirety of the book is spent with Rabbit in distress about having someone in her house. After each of the animals figured out that The Long One refused to get out, they offered to help. “Moral values of responsibility towards one another”[3] is a large part of the Maasai culture and reflects their socialist values. This is shown through a jackal trying to help by burning the creature out, a leopard attempting to scratch at the house, and an elephant and rhinoceros trying to crush it. Even though the majority of their attempts are unsuccessful, the offer to help is what can be taken away from the story. One of the main purposes of Maasai folktales is to portray “human communication behavior in the context of tale-telling”[4] which is exactly what Who’s In Rabbit’s House does; framing the human behavior as the desire to offer help to those who need it. In the end, Frog comes up with a way to trick The Long One out of the house. The help from others is what ends up being the solution to Rabbit’s problem.
Expressing Boundaries
[edit]A second theme addressed in Who’s In Rabbit’s House by Verna Aardema is how to develop and express boundaries for yourself and your property. The property in this scenario is Rabbit’s house and it has been encroached upon by The Long One, acting as a violation of her space. This is labeled very clearly throughout the book as the main problem and as a disrespectful thing to do, as all of the animals ask it to leave. This problem prompts a solution. Rabbit is forced to try and set a boundary by asking and eventually forcing The Long One to leave. Not only are there boundaries being set between Rabbit and The Long One, but also between the other animals as well. Though they all meant well and were trying to help get Rabbit her house back, each of the animal’s strategies only ended up harming the house. Each time, Rabbit was forced to intervene and tell the animals to stop as she didn’t want anything to happen to her home. Being able to speak up for yourself and set these boundaries to not only a clear enemy but also friends is a very important skill to develop. This theme reflects the Maasai culture as they were “labeled as resistant to foreign influence”[4] and were known to protect their property specifically during the colonial occupation of Kenya.
Short Film
[edit]Verna Aardema's version of this folktale was eventually adapted as an animated short movie in1995 which depicts this story as a play performed by Maasai actors in masks. Directed by Virginia Wilkos, this film runs for 13 minutes and includes music and a voice over and read aloud by James Earl Jones.
About the Author
[edit]Verna Aardema works with folktales commonly told in many cultures and rephrases them to be more understandable for young kids. She says, “Like the African storyteller, I retell a tale to make it more satisfying and more understandable to my audience, my readers”. She also edits out any content that is considered “taboo” in American culture. She says that being a primary school teacher and mother has helped her understand what children find entertaining in literature[5] and she formats her books to encourage audience participation, as seen in her book, “Who’s In Rabbits House”.
Other Works
[edit]A couple of Verna Aardema's works were featured in The Children's Services Division of the American Library Association (ALA) and one of her books won the Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished picture book for children on January 22, 1975. Her retelling of an African Tale Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears was recognized for its ability to capture the African culture, focusing specifically on the illustrations done by Leo and Diane Dillon.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "Aardema, Verna". Authors Emeritus. 2014-09-26. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ Miller, Howard M.; Dumey, Karen M. (1993). "Weaving a Spell with African Folktales". Journal of Reading. 36 (5): 404–406. ISSN 0022-4103. JSTOR 40033335.
- ^ "Sources of the Folktales", African Folktales, Princeton University Press, pp. 309–312, 2015, doi:10.1353/chapter.1546578, ISBN 978-1-4008-7294-7, retrieved 2024-12-04
- ^ a b Kiruswa, S. L. (2000). The nature and functions of oral folktales performance among the Maasai people. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
- ^ Toothaker, Roy (1979). "PROFILE: Verna Aardema: Her Wondrous Tales Fall on Willing Ears". Language Arts. 56 (2): 190–193. ISSN 0360-9170. JSTOR 41404781.
- ^ "Literary Landmark: Hackley Public Library - Verna Aardema Vugteveen | United for Libraries". www.ala.org. Retrieved 2024-12-04.