Blanchette et les Sept Petits Cajuns: A Cajun Snow White
Grade 1-3-Marie Gaudet is known for her voodoo powers, and she spends a lot of time using them to keep her looks intact. Daily, she drinks a completely disgusting concoction, then queries the still waters of the foggy bayou as to who is the fairest. One day, inevitably, the bayou tells her that Blanchette is the fairest, and Marie Gaudet goes ballistic. She instructs her creatures to take the young woman into the deep swamp to die. Like the woodsman in the classic story, they can't bear to do so, and lead her to the house of the sept petits Cajuns, where she settles in. All proceeds as in the original story until Blanchette bites into a tainted beignet, swoons, is awakened by the attentions of a rich landowner, marries him, drives the witch to death, and lives happily ever after. Cajun terms used within the text are defined and spelled phonetically on the bottom of the page on which they are first used. The telling is competent enough, but the book lacks verve. Soper's illustrations are executed in dark, murky colors that give the book an uninviting feel. The drawings are an odd combination of realistic (Blanchette, Marie Gaudet, the landowner) and cartoon (the swamp creatures look like something out of Pogo), and the features of the main characters vary page to page. If Blanchette didn't wear the same dress throughout the book, readers might not know it is the same girl. If Cajun material is in demand, this title will fill the bill. Otherwise, stick with the many other better-illustrated versions of the classic fairy tale.Ann Welton, Grant Elementary School, Tacoma, WACopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.