Bitter Bananas

by Isaac Olaleye

When baboons begin stealing the sweet palm sap that Yusuf sells at the market near his Nigerian village, what is he to do?

Genres: Picture Books, Africa

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Ragan Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: Yusuf lived in a small African village and loved to drink palm sap. He would sell what he didn't drink at the market, but someone was stealing his palm sap. Yusuf was going to find out who was stealing from him, so he hid in the bushes before dawn. Suddenly baboons came up and he realized that they were stealing his sap. He charged out of the bushes and yelled at the baboons to leave his sap alone. He tried to keep the baboons away by cutting down trees and scaring them away, but nothing would work. Yusuf used things he had around him to make some green juice to have at his tree. The baboons ate the juice and hated it, so they never came back again.

Theme: This book delivers the idea that you sometimes need to think outside the box and use what you have around you in order to make the best out of a situation.

Personal Response: This book reminded me of a time in class when I was in 5th grade. I was not being taken advantage of, but I needed to use tools around me to fix my project. I had made a bridge out of toothpicks and marshmallows, but I had to make makeshift marshmallows!

Recommendation: I think this book would be great to use because it shows a new cultural perspective, as well as teaches children to be creative and clever and that they do not have to be taken advantage of.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Young Yusuf and his family lived a long time ago in as African village in the heart of the rain forest.” His favorite drink is the palm sap — but someone is stealing it. So, he makes a scarecrow, then a mannequin but that doesn’t work. So, he makes a bitter concoction that is so bad that is chases the baboons away.

Bright, vivid illustrations.

[Lindsey Johnson]

By looking at the outside of the book you would not think the illustration is the way it is. The pictures look like they pop out and you can touch them. The book has color in it but most of the pages have dark colors on them. It looks like the pictures were painted and on some of the pages it looks like water was spilled on them and made water marks on them.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story taking place in the African Rain Forest. A tricky problem with a lot of problem-solving strategies and a final solution that is a parable. Very nice. Art is a bit wild but very colorful.

[Elke Ursin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one didn't charm me for some reason. Kinda weird.

[Kathleen Heroux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ed Young's illustrations are reason enough to read this story of a young African boy who must find a way to deter some very unusual thiefs.

[Elizabeth]

The repeated problem-solving keeps the story engaging, and some of the illustrations are great (and I'm really impressed by the cut-paper as I go back to the book more attentive to the illustrations), but personally I wasn't that into it.