The Rabbit's Judgment

by Suzanne Crowder Han, Yumi Heo (Illustrator)

In this traditional Korean folktale about justice and morality, a clever and witty rabbit tricks a conniving tiger to save a man's life. Striking illustrations, which combine oil, paint, pencil and collage, perfectly complement the text that appears in both Korean and English on every spread. Full color.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Folklore

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1994

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This bilingual Korean-English version of this traditional Korean folk tale had unique, weird, and kind of ugly illustrations (the tiger looks like a sausage) drawn by Yumi Heo, whose work I’d seen before. The tale is an interesting one, where a tiger falls into a pit, cries for help, and then tries to eat his human rescuer after having explicitly promised not to do so. Indignant at this ingratitude, the man insists that they should ask a jury what they think, and so they go and ask different forest creatures if it’s fair for the tiger to eat the man. Talk about high stakes! Unfortunately, it’s a tough crowd, and one creature after another rails against the injustices of humans against their kind, until they reach the rabbit, who has a clever solution.

The story instantly creates sympathy with the man, as suddenly it’s a matter of humanity on trial against the natural world. And it presents kids with several thorny moral dilemmas – Would you have helped the tiger out of the pit? Was it OK for the tiger to break his promise? Should the man have believed him? Were the tree’s and ox’s accusations fair? What plants or animals do you think would have been more likely to side with the man instead? Was the rabbit’s solution a good one?

[Lynsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a clever little story, and I loved the illustrations. I haven't read many Eastern folktales, so this was a nice experience. I got this book so I could see how much of the Korean I could understand. Not a lot, but it's good to know that I can make out some of it!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Heo creates the illustrations with oil paint, pencil and collage of this Korean folk tale, written in both English and Korean. They are stylistic renderings of each part of the story. I can see children sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens with the tiger who is saved from a pit by the man, but then claims it is so hungry that it’s going to eat the man anyway. How the pine tree, the ox and the rabbit help solve the dilemma is the main part of the story. It’s a terrific story that will start discussions about integrity, promises, and trickery. Loved it!

[R.W. Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good children's book and the text is in two languages, English and Korean. The story is really clever and in the author's foreword, she mentions that she draws on multiple tellings and consolidates them into her one tale. The one drawback of his book is the illustrations, which are neither beautiful nor straightforward and really, in my opinion, don't belong in children's books. This is a good gift for a ten year old person who speaks either Korean or English.

[Ruqayya Jarad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a Korean folktale about justice and morality. A man agrees to rescue a tiger from a deep pit,and expects that the starving beast will not eat him. However, the tiger is so hungry and forgets to be grateful and declares he will eat the man. A small, but clever rabbit,saves the man from this tiger.This book is for grade level 1-2.

[Jen]

Folk tale. E liked.

[William Dickerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good telling of the Chinese tale with the original story in Chinese. Worth checking out, especially if you are looking for some cultural content for your classroom.

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[Yapha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever and fun!

[Jack Whitebread · Rating 4 out of 5]

This adaptation of a Korean folk tale depicts the troubled relationships between humans and the rest of the natural world.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was amused by how the man kept making poor decisions in picking his allies. He was pretty lucky the bunny came along.