The Butter Man

by Elizabeth Letts, Ali Alalou, Julie Klear Essakalli (Illustrator)

While Nora waits impatiently for dinner, her father stirs up a story from his childhood. During a famine Nora's grandfather must travel over the mountain to find work so he can provide food for his family. While young Ali waits for his father's return, he learns a lesson of patience, perseverance, and hope. Fold-art illustrations capture the Moroccan culture and landscape. A Junior Library Guild selection.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Morocco, Africa, International, Fiction, Cultural

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

ELIZABETH LETTS is an award winning and bestselling author of both fiction and non-fiction. The Perfect Horse was the winner of the 2017 PEN USA Award for Research Non-fiction and a #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller. The Eighty-Dollar Champion was a #1 New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2012 Daniel P Lenehan Award for Media Excellence from the United States Equestrian Foundation. She is also the author of two novels, Quality of Care and Family Planning, and an award-winning children's book, The Butter Man. She lives in Southern California and Northern Michigan.

Reviews

[Katja Labonté · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. A fascinating glimpse at a lesser-known, interesting culture and at the hardships children have endured—but with a comforting ending and satisfying message. The illustrations are somewhat disproportionate and odd, but they convey lovely textures and colours. It’s a great little picture book and always makes me hungry for couscous!

[JD Waggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While waiting for her father to finish cooking dinner, Nora complains that she's "starving," as all kids do when they're really hungry. The father takes the opportunity to tell her about a time in his childhood in Morocco when he really didn't have enough food and how his mother would send him out to wait for the butter man so as to distract him from their not having enough bread.

This is a clever and gentle way to introduce kids not only to another culture (and Essakalli dives right into it, so be aware there's a glossary in the back and I didn't know that and was super confused at all the Berber words within the story. Get comfortable with those before reading to a kid, I'd say) but also to the reality of food insecurity and how folks deal with that. I wasn't overly impressed by the illustrations, but the text was interesting and could open some great conversations with small-ish kids.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book with the story about a different culture and the hardships they overcome. When Baba takes too long to cook the couscous, Nora becomes very impatient until her baba tells her a story about when he was a little boy and they had a drought one year in Morocco. There was too little water for the wheat to grow. There was very little wheat and everyone was hungry. His babalou had to leave to find a job and buy food for his family, but while waiting the long weeks for him to return, Ali was hungry all the time, so his mamalou sent him outside with a small piece of bread to watch for the Butter Man. Every day he saw different people on their way to faraway places and it kept him interested until he ended up nibbling his bread up without butter. I won't tell the end of the story, but Nora learns an appreciation of the food they have, even if she has to wait too long for it.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nora is very impatiently waiting for her parents to come home. As any parent would, her father shares a story of his childhood in Morocco, growing up, and how through "The Butter Man", Nora and her own father learned a lesson in patience and perseverance.

Similar in tone to the Caldecott book, The Ox-Cart Man, The Butter Man, gives a better perspective into the understanding of patience, perseverance, financial awareness, sacrifice and family. I also respected that it showcased the Moroccan setting and characters, told beautifully through #OwnVoices illustrator Julie Klear Essakalli.

[Risa Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Butter Man" told the story of a little girl named Nora's father, who experienced a drought when he was a child. When the crops failed during the drought, Ali was able to eat butter from their cow and he fell in love with butter. As Ali tells Nora this story, their family is similarly sharing a meal of cous cous. By creating the parallels in the story line, the author is demonstrating how even though time passes and people change, traditions do not. In a classroom, reading "The Butter Man" could provide the opportunity to teach students about a few major concepts: Islam, environmental devastation, such as droughts, and food insecurity, which some of your students may event be experiencing.

[Kaylee Fulk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did a great job allowing the reader to follow along as if they were personally there. It offered insight into a sense of famine. Where everyone I think will experience at one point in their lives. That sense of not having something or running short on supply. It allows children to understand struggles that other cultures and demographics encounter on a daily basis. The moral of the story is to teach patience, perseverance, and hope. Everyone can use this to encounter numerous experiences. Yet, showing that no matter what culture, belief, or background you grow up in, everyone has similar values and goals. Lastly, this does a good job of connecting western countries with present-day life to connect a families country of origin.

[L13_brian_mihovilovich · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Butter Man is a story about a young girl waiting for her mom to get home so they can have dinner. Her dad is cooking and she talks about how she is starving. Her dad then goes into a story about when he was a child and what starving actually was like in Morocco. Each day he would have less and less bread as he waited for the "butter man", and would eat the bread because he was so hungry even though the "butter man" hadn't come yet. Eventually he has next to nothing as he waits,but then his father returns from being away working and brings food and money.

This is a good harted story that teaches the reader to be careful with words and that other people can have it harder than you. The pictures are watercolors and abstractly drawn. They are great additions to the story. The story does have an authors note as well as a glossary for term that the reader that may not know. The story though is hard to understand though conceptually without knowing some background knowledge about life in Morocco. The authors note provides the needed background knowledge, and should be previewed and shared with a class before reading the story. I would actually use it as a intro/warm up to a unit or for something that we would be talking about for that day as a high school teacher.

[Nicolewinter2011 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrator: Julie Klear Essakalli
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing
Year: 2008
Interest Level: 2-4
Reading Level: 3-4

This book is a 2009 MIDDLE EAST BOOK AWARD RECIPIENT for picture books. This book is about a girl listening to her father tell the story about when he was little and living in Morocco during a famine.

There are so many ways this book could be integrated across the curriculum. In terms of modeling reading strategies and skills, this book lends itself to teaching author's message and inferencing (espcially with inferring the meaning of foreign language words). For character education/social studies, this text could be used to teach patience, resourcefulness and service learning (e.g. linked to a food drive). It could also be used as an intro to a writing assignment to write a tale of a parent/elder in a child's life.

[JustOneMoreBook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mouth-watering memories of fresh bread and butter and the crawling gnawing of famine's lack make a father's reflection on childhood hunger food for thought about patience, gratitude and luck.

You can listen in on our chat about this book on our Just One More Book! Children's Book Podcast.

[Zonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

While waiting for the couscous to be ready and mother to be home, a father (Baba)tells his daughter the story of hard times one year in Moracco. Folk art style illustrations. Author's note tells of life today in Moracco.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A young child is very hungry and waits while her father makes dinner. While waiting, he tells the story of growing up in Morocco during the time of great famine. Color illustrations fill each page in a two-dimensional folk-art kind of way.

What I liked: Great story about how a parent can relate when times were hard, and what they had to go through, and how to learn to appreciate when times are good and bellies can be filled! I also love the author's long notes and a glossary of Berber words. Wonderful cultural references about life in that region.

Would I read this to children: Yes! Lessons on patience (waiting for dinner), storytelling, appreciating what we have in good times, being aware of others who have had to endure harsh times, relating how some of the words or names used are similar to those in other languages.

[Jensine Foley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book about diversity. Nora grows impatient when her father is not done cooking dinner. Her father tells her a story about how when he was a young child and there was a drought and not much food for anyone to eat. They relied on farming, but the plants were not growing due to no rain falling. His mother would give him pieces of bread that were the size of his palm and would tell him to wait for the butter man to come. He would always grow impatient and eat the bread before the butter man came. Until one day, he was waiting outside and he had seen his father returning with crops in order for them to eat. He said it was like a celebration and the next year the crops were growing like you couldn't believe.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's a story that takes place in a little village in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. As the rain falls less and less, a family hits dire times and must make their food stretch. The father leaves for another town to find work so he can bring back food and the boy finds a way to cope with hunger.

Ages: 5 - 9

#geography #africa #morocco

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[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonus: Author's note in the back of the book and glossary of words.

I enjoyed the story of Nora and and her baba and their Saturday routine of making couscous. Nora is particularly hungry one afternoon and in response to telling her baba she is "starving" he tells her a story of when he was a little boy and had to wait for the butter man.

I would recommend this to older elementary school kids because the text is somewhat long. The illustrations are ok, sadly, they don't really stand out at all. The authors note in the back is quite informative and is a great jump off point for discussions on family traditions and cultures.

[Suzanne Koziol · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Nora is eagerly waiting for her mother to come home so they can all eat together. While they're waiting her dad tells the story of his childhood in Morocco and waiting for the butter man to come. This book teaches people that life isn't always fair for some people and others may have it harder than you. I really enjoyed the illustrations on top of the lesson in this book.

[Janine Darragh · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this picture book, Baba tells his granddaughter about his childhood in Morocco. I liked how in the back of the book it tells about the native people of North Africa that are depicted in the story.

[Alejandra Vasquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for ages four to eight. The themes talked about are sacrifice and generations. I picked this book because it helps students understand diversity. I would include this in my classroom because after the reading we can talk about how our cultures are similar and different.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting and not what I expected it to be about.

[Heidi Kuipers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story and illustrations, also great to introduce Moroccan culture

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!! Perfect for describing how families in many other countries don’t have much food.

[Laila Taji · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the use of Arabic/Moroccan words but wish the translations were next to them.
Cute idea, loved the imagery, didn't love the writing.

[Katherine C. Hirstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Stacey Mulholland · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I read this book the Caldecott winner "How I learned Geography" came to mind. The main character's mom figured out how to distract the boy while waiting for improvements in their lives.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming story that gives a glimpse into life in mountainous Morocco. Would make a great culture study in class.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published: 2008, Charlesbridge Publishing
Age: 4-8
Every Saturday, Nora’s Moroccan father (Baba) makes a big couscous dinner in a special pot he brought to America from his homeland. Nora is really hungry but her father doesn’t want her to eat and spoil her appetite. As she begs her baba for a snack, he tells her a story of when he was young and poor in Morocco. There was a famine one year and his father had to go across the mountains for work to buy food. He (Ali) and his mother (mahalou) were left at home with very little food. Ali was always hungry and his mother would give him smaller and smaller pieces of hard bread. Ali wanted butter to put on it to make it slippery and soft but there was none. So she sent him out every day to wait for the butter man to ask for a little butter. He waits and waits and he never comes, but it makes Ali forget his hunger for awhile. Eventually his father returns and they have a big feast.
As Ali waits for the butter man, he describes the people that walk by so we get an idea of the culture, landscape, and the clothing of Morocco. The description of the pot is also interesting as the authors explain how to make the couscous. The text also includes some similes to make it engaging for children such as, “quick as a goat,” or he describes the feeling of hunger “as a little mouse gnawing on my insides.” The illustrations are painted in sandy earth tones that give the feeling of a mountainous sunny type place. Ali and his daughter learn patience and hope. The authors note at the end explains that traveling was difficult very high in the Atlas Mountains so peddlers would walk through the villages selling wares on the backs of mules. One of the things they would sell was butter. He also writes details about the location, people, language, and other interesting facts about the Berbers of Morocco.

[Cheiree Domet]

Text to self reflection: When reading "The Butter Man" I had thoughts of going to my grandma's house. When I'd visit her she'd always make her homemade spaghetti and meatballs. I remember the smell as we walked into the house. My stomach would instantly start rumbling and I'd want to eat right away. Grandma would always tell us we'd have to wait. Unlike the book however, Grandma would give us a piece of Italian bread from Orsi's Italian Bakery to dip into the simmering zugu (sauce). To this day when I make her sauce I have to have Orsi's bread and dip it into the sauce as it is simmering throughout the day.

The book provides multiple perspectives and values by describing how the family goes from having plenty of food to running out to having plenty again. It tells how the mother was able to distract her son so he didn't have time to concentrate on his hunger. It described how things in the small town had changed and the father had to go away to work in order to come back and support his family after a long time away.

Bloom's Questions:
1. Remembering - How is baba's mother able to distract him from being wanting butter?
2. Understanding - What kind of a woman do you think baba's mother was?
3. Applying - How would you have handled the situation if you couldn't have gotten any butter for your bread?
4. Analyzing - Why does baba's father go to work in another town?
5. Evaluating - Would it have been better if baba's mother would have told him that there was no butter man? Why or why not?
6. Creating - How would you rewrite the story if baba's mother was telling it?

[Susen Saeed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nora is waiting impatiently as her father is preparing dinner. To help keep her mind off her hunger, her father tells her the story of when he was a little boy and there was a famine in Morocco. His father was forced to go looking for food and Nora’s father,Ali, was left with his mother and was very hungry. The bread was slowly finishing and her father could not wait any longer for food. Ali’s mother had told him to wait outside for the Butter man to give him the sweet butter he could not wait any longer for. This helped to keep hunger off of Ali’s mind as he waited for the Butter Man. Even though the Butter Man never showed, eventually Ali’s father returned with plenty of food, and butter! This is a valuable story because it teaches children the importance of patience and that nothing is impossible. There are many ways to keep ones self occupied. Also, throughout the story, the reader is exposed to various features of the Moroccan culture, people, and the food they eat. For example, Nora’s father was preparing a large Saturday meal and the author describes how he prepares couscous. There is also vocabulary throughout the story that may also help children to better understand this culture and become aware of various terms used, as well as the particular landscape illustrated. This can also be helpful for students who may relate to the characters of this story and help them in forming a better identity.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story told by a father to his daughter, about his childhood living in Tamazirt. His father had to leave for work while him and his mother rationed bread. One day his mother tells him to go wait for the butter man, before he eats his bread. But as the bread gets smaller, he never saves it until one day his father returns.
I just thought this was a interesting story, and I liked how it was set up.
At first, I didn't know if the pictures were very accurate, because they looked white washed, but after googling the area, they seemed like good representations of the people. That brings me to not really being a big fan of the art style, even though I couldn't imagine it being a different way.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this story was pretty good. The story is about a young girl who listens to a story from her father about the difficulty of growing up in Morocco. When they had a drought, there wasn't much to eat because his family depended on the crops they grew. His mother has very little bread to give him, but told him to save it and ask the butter man to give him a little butter for his bread. He did so everyday, which would help him forget about his hunger pains. However, he was not patient enough until one day his father returned from finding work with bags of food.

This story is a story told to this young girl because she is so hungry and wants to eat before dinner is ready. I think this is an interesting story because it's so specific about the culture. It's a story from Morocco, which many students may not know much about. It has a lot of words that are foreign, but what is really nice about this book is the author's note at the end. When I read this book, there were a lot of questions about the things said and done, but I read his note which explained the customs and actions in his hometown in Morocco. There is also a glossary for the reader to use with the unfamiliar words. I think it's a good story to introduce the value that some countries have and how we must be patient with ourselves.

[Cindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books about other countries and especially books about how people survive hardship. This book was about a boy living in Morocco during a famine (as told by the boy, now a man, to his daughter who believes she can't wait until dinner is ready to eat). As the family was running out of food, they sold their cow and then the boy's father went into the mountains to the next valley to look for work. Each day, the boy's mother gave him less and less bread to eat. One day he told her he couldn't possibly eat it without just a tiny bit of butter. She told him to go outside and wait for the butter man. The butter man never did arrive at on the road outside their home, but as he watched and nibbled on his bread, his mind was taken off of his extreme hunger. One day as he waits, he sees his father coming home. The family feasts on a meal that night that would be like an everyday meal for us.

I liked the inclusion of words from either Arabic or Berber in this book, the talk of the food they ate, clothes they wore etc. The author's note at the end enlightened even further on culture, surroundings, language etc.