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Armadillo Tattletale Editorial Review:
Armadillo's habit of eavesdropping and then misreporting what he hears makes the other animals so angry that they find a way to keep him from overhearing their private conversations.
Customer Reviews:
WHAT A UNIQUE BOOK. WHAT A WONDERFUL LEARNING TOOL.
This is certainly a unique book, or, probably a better word would be "odd." When I first read it, something I ALWAYS do before presenting a new book to the kids, I must admit to having been a bit stunned and put off. The critters in this story are mean, just simply mean, and not all that loveable. Actually, they acted like quite a number of people I run across every day, i.e. like the majority of humans in this day and age. This is the beauty of this book. Kids need to learn to cope with people who are sometimes mean. They also need to learn not to be mean themselves.
The story is basically about a Armadillo, who secretly listens to the other creatures talk, then goes around tattle-taling to the other critters, those being talked about and telling them what was overheard. To make a long story short, the Armadillo eventually has his ears chewed of by one of the other animals. The animals are somewhat cruel, and treat the Aramadillo rather badly throughout the story. Anyway, this set me to thinking. This book is a wonderful book to read to the children and gives the parent or teacher an opportunity to teach them many lessons. First of course is the evil of telling stories and gossiping about others, and the harm it can do. Secondly, it illustrates the question, is it right and proper or just to solve problems by throwing "hissy-fits" and treating others badly just because they have treated us badly? Thirdly, is it best to solve problems through violence, through intimidation and meanness? Of course not, to all three. This gives the parent and/or teacher hours and hours worth of dicussion, page by page, on just how NOT to act! It gives the teacher or parent and opportunity to point out the many alternatives to the problem and an opportunity to discuss those various alternatives. It gives an opportunity to show just how a simple problem can get out of hand if not handled in a civilized manner. I like that!
Now if you want a front to cover "happy book," then indeed, you should probably look elsewhere. This book is also one of those that certainly illustrates the fact that parents and teachers should probably review the books their children are reading from time to time, and if it is felt the child cannot handle it, then the child should be guided else where...that is one of the functions of being an adult, when you really think about it. All in all, I found the book to be great and very, very useful. Recommend this one highly, depending of course, if these are the lessons you want to teach and the method you want to use to teach these lessons.
Made my animal-loving son cry and extrememly upset
My 4-year-old son picked this book out himself at the school library, probably because it had animal characters (he loves armadillos and other wild animals) which were wonderfully illustrated (he can't read yet). I had not read the book prior to the first time I read it to my son. And I was disturbed when I did read it. I don't know what's worse...the armadillo who eavesdrops and repeats what he heard incorrectly, or the animals who "beat him to the watering hole every day and forced Armadillo to scrounge through the mud for a puddle of murky water to drink. It tasted awful and practically made him sick, so he drank as little as possible, and was always thirsty" ?? Very evil. The part that made my son cry was when the angry alligator violently chewed off the armadillo's ears, and it was accompanied by a scary illustrataion of an alligator with lots of teeth and fire shooting out of his nostrils. This page reads: "And now," she said, "I'll fix your ears so you won't be snooping and telling tales again!" And she opened her mouth and gnashed and clashed her big, strong alligator teeth. And then she nipped and snipped and clipped at Armadillo's ears until there was nothing left but tiny, teeny, itsy, weenie little ears." I thought maybe there was a redeeming ending, but not really. It didn't matter, though, because my son was so angry at all the animals and was telling me that the alligator needs a time out, etc. He was inconsoleable. He'll have nightmares about this one.
Great fun
For all children with imaginations and anyone who could learn something, this is a great little book about exaggerators and how to catch them, with a whimsical side to a mythological fact of how the armadillo got his ears. As a children's librarian I love this for storytimes.
On the bright side the illustrations are sumptuous and rich.
Unfortunately, the book has only unsympathetic characters. The armadillo while he repeatedly tattletales, doesn't learn how to improve his behavior, despite the grief it causes him and others, instead he is physically stopped by having his large receptive ears chewed down by the alligator. All his friends are mean, they throw "humongous hissy fits" ,they don't allow him to drink at the watering hole and they gang up on him. The writer lapses into using vague words like "what-for, how-come and why-not" that weaken the text and meaning.
My 4 year old boy overall found it a bit sad.On the bright side the illustrations are sumptuous and rich.
Delightful!
We loved it - the pictures, the story, the ending. The "we" includes mom and an eight year old - but it's suitable for preschool and up. Wonderful book.
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