Trouble by Jane Kurtz. Illustrated by Durga Bernhard (1997) Reading Level: Ages 4-8. 40 pages. Gulliver Books. ISBN: 0152002197.
|
Trouble
by Jane Kurtz
Illustrated by Durga Berhard
A story set in Eritrea (based on a
traditional tale) about a boy who keeps getting into trouble. His
father finds the solution: a gebeta
game. When Tekleh seems not to be able to stay out of trouble, his
father gives him a gebeta board. While Tekleh spends the day caring for
the goats he encounters several groups of people. He trades his game,
first for a knife, then a musical instrument, a drum, a bag of corn,
and a papaya. Finally he trades for another gebeta board. When he
returns to his unsuspecting father, his father is convinced that the
game has sheltered his son from harm. Bernhard's illustrations are
created in gouache, opaque watercolors, with warm earth tones as
prominent colors.
Honors/Reviews:
-
Junior Library Guild Selection
-
"... this will be useful for classes studying Africa, Tekleh also has a
universal appeal that should be popular with young listeners
everywhere. Appended with source notes and a glossary of foreign
terms." -- Booklist
"From Kurtz (Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun,
1996, etc.), the lively Eritrean story of a young boy with a magnetic
attraction to trouble. An author's note discusses the story's origins;
Bernhard's illustrations provide an enchanting window into the culture
and people of Eritrea. (map, glossary)." -- Kirkus Review
"Tekleh's father believes that giving his wayward son a new game--a
gebeta board--will keep him out of trouble. Tekleh's journey proceeds
from left to right in the flat, earth-toned paintings, encouraging
readers to turn the pages of this humorous Eritrean tale." -- The Horn Book
Classroom Connections
-
The game, gebeta, played by the boy in the story is played on every
continent. Most commonly, here in the United States, it's called
mancala. Jane says that she remembers playing it when she was a girl
and recently relearned if a few years ago when her eight nieces and
nephews in Minneapolis taught her daughter how to play.
-
The story begins "Trouble always found _______." Insert your
own name in the blank and write your story of the 'trouble' that finds
YOU.
-
This story is set in Eritrea, one of the newest countries in the world. Research to learn more about the setting.
-
Compare and contrast the version of this story that is told in Trouble to a more traditional version in the book Fire on the Mountain, a collection of folktales gathered by Harold Courlander (Henry Holt, 1950).
-
The illustrator, Durga Bernhard, has illustrated other books. Compare and contrast the illustrations in Trouble to those in his other books, for example, A Ride on Mother's Back and The Way of the Willow Branch (Harcourt)
-
-
Folktales where something gets traded for something else are pretty common. Compare and contrast these two stories with Trouble:
-
Aardema, Verna. This for That (Dial)
-
Tompert, Ann. The Jade Horse, the Cricket, and the Peach Stone. (Boyds Mills).
The ending of the Eritean folktale is somewhat unusual for this type of
story. How is the ending different from the ending in other tales in
which trading takes place? How are the stories similar and how are they
different from one another?
-
Since Eritrea became an independent country the maps have
changed considerably. Compare a map of the area, made in the mid-1980s
(or before) with a map made in the 1990s.
|