Bitter Bananas

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Deep in the African rain forest, Yusuf harvests sweet palm sap for himself and his family. What they don't drink, he takes to market. When he discovers a band of baboons pilfering his harvest, he plots--vainly at first--to rout them. Olaleye, a native of Nigeria, makes a notable storytelling debut; his work bears the stamp of orally transmitted folktales. But the real lure here is the art. The tale is not so much illustrated by Young ( Lon Po Po ) as it is electrically charged--lush, tropical colors glow against a largely black backdrop, transforming the straightforward events into the stuff of mystery. Young, working with cut paper, demonstrates a remarkably fluid technique; his exotic images suggestboth depth and motion. Jungle grasses appear to wave in the wind,crimson blossoms spill down a corner of a page. An inspired--and inspiring--collaboration. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Children's Literature - Judy Silverman

Baboons are stealing the gourds full of sap that Yusuf must sell to buy the things his family needs. Yusuf is sure he can outwit the animals. But baboons are smart. They don't fall for tricks that he plays on them, so he "thinks, and thinks, and thinks," until he has come up with a wonderful idea. His entire family must help him arrange the final trick, more clever than any baboon could ever be, that will guarantee that no baboon will ever come near his sap again. The rhythm of the jungle is caught in the choruses of "oh, yes!" and "oh, no" after each episode. A wonderfully clever book with fantastic illustrations.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-Young Yusuf is a resourceful boy who is quite fond of the sweet palm sap he harvests near his home in the African rain forest. He sells at market what he doesn't consume, so is naturally upset to discover a family of baboons helping themselves to his potential profits. After several of his efforts to keep the animals away fail, he declares, ``Those baboons will not make a monkey out of me!'' and devises a foolproof plan to get rid of the scoundrels. By employing some ingenuity, a bit of muscle, and a little juice from wormwood leaves, he convinces the creatures to look elsewhere for a tasty breakfast and has the sweet satisfaction of a job well done. While the folkloric theme of this simple story is hardly original, it is well paced and charmingly told. The refrains-``Oh yes! Oh yes!'' and ``Oh no! Oh no!''-heighten the tension, expand the humor, and add child appeal. However, it's Young's cut-paper artwork and the book's sumptuous design that will draw readers in and hold them rapt. Dramatic and vibrant, the images are as dense as the rain forest, the colors as saturated as if pounded by ``a trillion strands of rain,'' and as energetic as Yusuf himself.-Luann Toth, School Library Journal