The Blabbermouths: Adapted from a German Folktale

In this adaptation of a German folktale, a poor farmer rescues a woman put under a spell and in return is given a chest full of gold pieces. There's just one catch: he can't tell anyone about it. Though the farmer swears he's no blabbermouth, word of his newfound fortune spreads throughout his village and eventually reaches the magistrate, who accuses him of stealing the coins. In the leisurely style of oral narrative, Mantinband ( Bang, Bang, Fiddle Dee Dee ; Papa and Mama Biederbeck ) chronicles how the farmer's clever wife saves their wealth by tricking her husband into spouting tales of insane goings-on so that the chest of gold is dismissed as just another mad fantasy. Although this retelling starts out with promise, it is ultimately unsatisfying. The wife hits on the solution without a moment's pause: we miss seeing the wheels turn and sharing her exultation as she hatches her plot. As a result, she brings on her husband's ``madness'' too swiftly. The narrative is enhanced by Borovsky's watercolors, with the simple lines and out-of-proportion figures possessing the naive charm of Central European folk painting. Ages 4-up. (May)