Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings

This amusing book features the main heroes Brother Fox and Brother Rabbit, who set up clever adventures for each other. Other animals also take part. The fairy tales are told to the boy by an old Black man. This was the first experience where Black folklore was used as the foundation of a fairy-tale work. But the experiment turned out to be more than successful. For an entire century now, the mischievous jokes of the forest people have continued to delight children and adults.

The action takes place in the forest, where all the animals are related in some way: Wolf, Bear, Tortoise… all of them address one another as “Brother.” This is reminiscent of one big family, in which physical strength is matched—equaled—by cunning and quick wit. However, the main heroes are not so simple. Brother Rabbit often teases the silly Brother Fox, leaving him with his nose just as often. But there is also a reckoning for the joker.

Most children know the Soviet animated film based on these tales, but reading them is just as interesting. As you would expect, these cheerful stories reflect the culture of another country, but that doesn’t lessen their charm—instead, they are perceived as something original and unlike anything else.