Armadillo, El Chismoso

by Helen Ketteman

What happens when your ears are too big for your head? Helen Ketteman's endearing tale of how the Armadillo came to have small ears reminds youngsters and oldsters alike to listen with care. With memorably quirky illustrations by Keith Graves.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Folklore, School

Hardcover

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

author and mother of two grown sons. Texas, where she lived for 9 years, is one of her favorite places and several of her books are set there. She, her husband, and their two cats currently live in Sanibel Island, Florida--where plenty of armadillos live, too.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even the littlest child could likely predict the ending. Wordy. But still fun, with funny illustrations.

However, no connection to the author's wonderful Armadilly Chili.

[Kaethe · Rating 2 out of 5]

2004

Armadillo is made into a tasty tamale by the enraged subjects of his malicious gossip. Well, no. But that would have been a great book, huh? No when I grew up, a tattletale was a whistle-blower, and kids being tiny mafiosi hit men, ratting someone out was BAD. In this story, Armadillo is an eavesdropper playing Telephone. Pleh.

***

14 December 2023

Nineteen years on, I picked up the book again, because good title and cover. But I still don't care for just so stories or for moralizing. While some may find comfort in the rough justice served up for the eavesdropping pot-stirring armadillo, I still didn't.

Library copy

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Why on earth are armadillo ears so small? This fun fable tells the story of what happens to Armadillo’s ears once he goes gossiping around, spreading little exaggerated tales about his friends.
Evaluation: I loved how fun this book was. I ended up reading it with one of my second graders and he was laughing at the illustrations and making sense of the story. Once we were done reading it together, he realized how bad the consequences were when you went around gossiping things that aren’t true. Of course it’s not going to be as bad as Armadillo’s fate, but the consequences can still be severe.
Teaching Idea: This book is perfect to use when teaching the concept of a moral of a story. The moral in this story is pretty self-explanatory and simple yet interesting enough to use with lower grades.

[Lauren Paravate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Armadillo Tattletale goes through the story telling lies and listening to everyone's secrets with his huge ears. By the end of the story Armadillo learns his lesson about lying and is finally able to make friends.

Evaluation: This story is a great example of why it isn't good to be a tattletale and how it affects the people around you. The author makes this very clear to their readers and young children would easily make the connection to this.

Teaching Idea: I would use this book when teaching about rules and procedure the first few weeks of school. This book is all about tattletales and being nice to one another. I would read this book with my students and ask them what they thought about the different things that happened. Then I would have a matching words game with what it means to be a nice friend and not a nice friend in the classroom based off of choices the Armadillo made.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book more for its rich language than its story, though the story is good as well. It is basically a fable, as in the Aesop variety, that tells of an armadillo with enormous ears and a penchant for eavesdropping and spreading rumors about the other animals of the area. He is disliked for his eavesdropping and his distorting the truth to spread discord. Finally, Alligator fixes him once and for all by snipping off most of his ears, leaving him with a pair that hears only what it should and nothing else, which turns out well for everybody, even Armadillo who can walk without tripping over his ears. It's a good story, made all the better by the author's creative word use. This is a good read aloud, as it has a steady lyrical flow and an underlying rhythm that rolls off the tongue and draws in the listener. Give it a read. You'll be glad you did.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this modern-day "Just So" story we readers learn how the Armadillo lost his beautiful long ears, winding up with ears that are short and unremarkable.

This cautionary tale is made extra vivid through animal illustrations that strike the eye with an almost surrealistic force, thanks to artist Keith Graves.

If you're looking for dramatic reasons to never, ever, tattle on others? This book might scare a kid out of this.

On behalf of the sheer wild adventure of this picture book by Helen Ketteman, I'll give it FIVE STARS.

Only I caution you Goodreaders, know your child. Will this book be too much? Any child with much sensitivity, let alone any born empath (A Highly-Highly Sensitive Person) could have nightmares from this book for years.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once upon a time, Armadillo had very big ears that could hear very well, and he enjoyed spreading the rumors he heard . . . whether they were true or not. This fun story reads like a folk tale or fable.

With great illustrations by Keith Graves.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Armadillo "loved nothing better than eavesdropping on other animals and telling tales about what he heard."

A pourquoi tale about why armadillos have little ears. Illustrations add a lot of humor.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of how the armadillo got his small ears for being such a gossip and twister of tales from eavesdropping on subjects that don't concern him.

[Alisha]

This is a teachable tale

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good story about not lying or gossiping for children.

[Katie Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a good book to use in the classroom if you were having an issue with tattletales and rumors.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

More about gossip than tattling

[Jackie Zimmermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Littler kids might not get it.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super cute. My son really loved the repetitive pages.

[Liz Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really what I'm looking for as far as a kindergarten tattle story, but could be perfect for older children (and some adults....)

[Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute tale about the dangers of gossip

[Sebastian Rosenzweig · Rating 2 out of 5]

- Calificaciones de estrellas: 2.5

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story to teach about why tattle telling is bad.

[Cara Frazee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade: Preschool-2
Modern Fantasy

A fun story with a good lesson. The writing is clever and the lesson will be great for kids and others to learn from.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading a good tall tale about why things are the way they are today. This story was a pleasant addition to the repertoire of tales that I've encountered, and it is one that I'm looking forward to sharing with children in storytime!

In the Wild West, armadillos, rattlesnakes, turtles, and egrets abound, but would you ever have guessed that armadillos used to have extra large ears? Ears with which they could hear everything (and then gossip about what they heard)? Well, according to this story, that is how things used to be. But, after hurting his friends one too many times, Armadillo got his comeuppance in the form of smaller ears. However, this change permitted him to run fast and to rebuild his friendships...so it wasn't all bad!

The illustrations in this story are lovely and the story has a strong message for its readers. Always telling the truth and not gossiping are themes throughout, and it's easier for children to learn those concepts from the mouths of animals, sometimes, than from grownups.

I would highly recommend this book to elementary aged readers who want to learn more about the animals in the western part of the United States!

[Tasasha Battle]

This book is about the story of an armadillo. In the beginning armadillos use to have huge, tall ears and those ears were used to over hear other animals' conversations. When ever the armadillo would hear animals talking he would listen to them. Then he would take his new found information run and tell what he heard. However the armadillo would tell what he hear but switch the words around. This caused confusions and misunderstandings among the animals, so the armadillo was not allow to drink water from the fresh and clean water hole. In the end of the story the armadillo ears were at their normal size that they are today and he can drink all the clean water he liked. This book can be used to teach students theme. The will be able to determine the difference between the main idea and the theme. They can use this book to figure out the theme of attending to one own businesses due to the benefits of the armadillo being able to drink from the clean water hole.

[Amber Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fictional story about an armadillo who used to have long ears that could over hear many of his friends conversations. Armadillo would tattletale and misinform the information that he heard to others, getting himself into trouble. His friends had enough of his tattletales and alligator bites and trims his ears to be small so he can never overhear a conversation again. This book has an interesting point of view of dealing with tattling. A cute story, but I would be concerned that kids might think it's okay to bite each other after seeing the alligator bite and trim armadillo's ears down. I would use this book to address tattling and learn to be respective to others and not ease drop. I would also explain to the kids that biting isn't a good thing to do, unless it's biting and chewing their food ;)

[Diantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Armadillo Tattletale by Hellen Ketteman. This tale gives us a spin on why armadillos have small ears. Armadillo would over hear something with his large ears and go around spreading rumors and tall tales. After many events happening, the other animals are fed up with the tales armadillo has to offer. Alligator then does some chomping at the bit to fix the situation.

This children’s book has wonderful pictures and has great detail. It also uses a variety of animals to help appeal to different genders of children. Another great aspect of this book is the expressions used by the animals to convey the way the feel. This book is a great way to help kids understand the importance of not being a tattletale.

[Taysia Egbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a way cute story of how in the beginning Armadillos had big ears, and one Armadillo imparticular used his large ears and incredible hearing foolishly. The Armadillo would always eavesdrop on his animal friends and then go and twist what he heard and gossip it to the other animals. Armadillo soon gets taught a lesson from an upset alligator because he told a false tale on something that the alligator had not really said. The alligator snipped off the armadillo's ears into tiny weenie ears. So, now all armadillos have little ears:) This book has great pictures/illustrations. It teaches a good lesson and its just a fun picture book!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son and niece and nephew loved this book! I had to read it to them dozens of times and it was so cute that I didn't mind at all. Every time that Armadillo would retell what she had overheard they would say "That's not what she heard!" and we could talk about how important it is to be honest and not tell things that aren't true. Even though this book is for children, I saw my teenage son lingering behind the sofa as I read to the children and listening. I know that he was smiling at Armadillo's antics.

[Velita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a tattling armadillo that overhears information from listening to other animals conversations. The armadillo would then run off and tell others what was said but would twist the words around, so the story was never accurate. This would be a great book to teach children about tattling--great for making text-to-self connections! This book is also repetitive in the overhearing of conversations and tattling to others.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made the mistake of not pre-reading this before I read it aloud to my class today. It wasn't even about tattling at all -- more about gossip. And the way the other animals reacted to Armadillo was AWFUL!! Talk about bullying! I didn't feel like any of the characters really learned anything by the end of the book either. So after reading it, my class had a good discussion about all the things we learned NOT to do from reading this book. I will not be using this one again.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)

Armadillo has extremely long ears that make getting around hard. Not only that, but it causes trouble because he hears other animals' conversations and report the tales in a twisted way to whomever the conversation was about. Will he ever "listen" to the other animals' advice abut tattling?

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story about Armadillo and why his ears become smaller after he overhears other animals and passes what he heard along but not accurately. He misrepresents the details and all the animals are angry at him. Provides an answer to why his ears are the size they are. Funny illustrations in this book.