Kimmel, Eric A. 2007. THE GREAT TEXAS HAMSTER DRIVE. Ill. by Bruce Whatley. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation. ISBN 9780761453574
2. Plot Summary
THE GREAT TEXAS HAMSTER DRIVE is a variant and extension of the American folktale Pecos Bill. It was inspired by a Texas librarian, and this would be an interesting fact to share with audiences. The strory begins with how Bill and his gal, Slue Foot Sue, become married. They settle on a large ranch in Texas and raise four boys, one girl and longhors. The main story centers around their tiny daughter, Sue Foot Sal, who decides she would like a hamster as a pet. Bill rounds up two hampsters for her from his friend in Chicago just in case "one gets lonely". Sal's two hampsters end up parenting many, many, many more hamsters. One day, Sal finds all of the hamsters to be missing. They appear all over the fields, eating all of the grass, driving the longhorns away. Ike, Bill's friend in Chicago, tells him to take the thousands of hamsters to the Abilene railroad and send them on to Chicago for all of the city children. Thus, The Great Texas Hamster Drive begins with eighteen thousand, three hundrend and seventy-six mischievous hamsters. Pecos Bill, Sal and the crew lose the hamsters in a prairie dog field along the way, and Cookie is the only one who knows how to get them out - by sticking a stove pipe in their tunnel. At the end of it all, Sal realizes it is best to give the hamsters to the children in Chicago, but she is sad and asks for a new - a gerbil!
3. Critical Analysis
This folktale is a comical and light-hearted variant of Pecos Bill and his advenutres. It has been made even more kid-friendly in THE GREAT TEXAS HAMSTER DRIVE through Kimmel's introduction of Bill and Sue's daughter, Sal. Some of the other versions of Bill and Sue's story do not end up this happily, so this is a great story to share with children of all ages. In true folktale fashion, there is an element of exaggerationm, and the plot moves quickly, making this a very fun story for young audiences. The use of the author's dialogue is simple but interesting with its "Texas talk", creating the perfect atmosphere for a read aloud.
Whatley's illustrations of the characters are done in watercolor adding to the imaginary quality. Folktales are not meant to be believable, and the illustrator has done a nice job creating simple paintings with just a hint of that needed exaggeration. For example, all of the characters' features are painted very similarly. They have black dots for eyes, very simple angled eyebrows, and straight lines for mouths. The distinguishing factor on Bill is his squared off chin, and his downward mouth movements when he speaks makes him seem very manly and cowboy-esque. The hamsters smile at the audience, adding more to the theme of exaggeration. The illustrations are rooted in the Texas culture and match the words of the author.
This story would be difficult for children if they do not have background knowledge of Pecos Bill and his stories. It may be important for the teacher or teacher-librarian to share some other versions first.
4. Review Excerpt(s)
KIRKUS REVIEWS: "Using a palette of invitingly pale, warm hues, Whatley depicts squads of smiling, irresistibly cute hamsters in close-up ground level and underground scenes being herded by broad-faced, comically confused-looking "cow" pokes in full western gear".
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "Inspired by a school in Texas where children helped a commercial breeder take care of thousands of hamsters, Kimmel’s tall tale is sure to make young readers smile."
5. Connections
A. This story would be an excellent reader's theater event focusing on the tone and how to speak with dialogue after the book has already been read by the teacher or librarian. The lesson could be extended by having children write their own versions in small groups including diaglogue. They could even possibly research dialect of other states and incorporate that into their story writing
B. This folk tale would be excellent to use for a vocabulary lesson. Words such as sidewinder, mail-order, peddler, muttered, saddlebags, and others are interesting words that younger children may have not heard.
C. Symbolism is something that could be taught with this book as well. The names Widow Maker, Slue Foot Sue and Sal, Crockett, etc. all lend themselves to a discussion on name symbolism. This would be a great tie in for middle to high school aged children when you are discussing "grown up" versions of folktales or myths such as Anthem by Ayn Rand or The Odyssey by Homer.
Other variants/versions of Pecos Bill:
Kellogg, Steven. PECOS BILL. Ill. Laura Robb ISBN 978-0688099244
Cloyd Bowman, James. PECOS BILL: THE GREATEST COWBOY OF ALL TIME. Ill. Laura Bannon. ISBN 978-1590172247
Hamann Tulian, Sean. PECOS BILL, COLOSSAL COWBOY, THE GRAPHIC NOVEL. Ill. Lisa Kay Weber. ISBN 978-1434222671
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| Image from Amazon.com |
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