Love and Roast Chicken

This is a fun and silly tale. I love that at the end the author has a note about how she ended up writing the story and includes a page with Spanish words and their translations that were interspersed throughout the tale.

A fun trickster tale from South America. Love the title of course and the illustrations are very bright, with heavy stylized black outline. Very fun for an older preschool storytime.

It is easy to see why this book received so many awards. It has both super text and illustrations. Barbara Knutsen is such a terrific writer! This read aloud will not disappoint you!

I really enjoyed the creativity of the story. There is a lesson about tricking or cheating others for your own personal gain. It was a good read out loud story for my class. The children really enjoyed the story as well as the illustrations.

The artwork is absolutely breathtaking. It appears to be made from prints using carved blocks, then soft watercolor is added. I laughed and smiled while reading it to myself and am sure a child would get a kick out the story line as well.

There is an Author's Note that mentions this folktale is taken from the Andes Mountains, where the trickster is usually a grey fox but there is one story where the trickster is a guinea pig. The author has combined and rearranged the many different versions of this story and made it her own. The

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plot is simple and to the point, there are only four characters (guinea pig, grey fox, farmer, and farmer's daughter). The story revolves around how the guinea pig wants to find food but gets caught by the grey fox, the guinea pig finds logic to escape his occurrences with the grey fox. I find it difficult to find the under lying theme, don't trust guinea pigs...this story did not do it for me. I can see how young children will like this book, guinea pigs are different and cute, and it always outsmarts the grey fox and makes the grey fox look silly, I can see a connection there. Not sure if this story represents the cultural norms of the Andes Mountains, other than I do know that there are a lot of guinea pigs in that region. The author even states that this folktale is very similar to ones from Africa. I did like the illustrations but I felt sad towards the grey fox even though he wanted to eat the guinea pig, I guess I am not a fan of guinea pigs.
Ages 6 - 9 years old.

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Barbara Knutson keeps the cultural “flavor” of the Andes Mountain in her book, Love and Roast Chicken: A Trickster Tale from the Andes Mountains. In this trickster tale, a clever guinea pig, Cuy, repeatedly outsmarts Tio Antonio, the fox. On numerous occasions, Tio Antonio catches Cuy to eat,

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but is tricked into letting Cuy free. From holding a rock to being told he will have to marry the farmer’s daughter, Tio Antonio appears to be gullible and not very smart. Tio Antonio never catches Cuy and Cuy never gets punishment for tricking others. This folktale is silly and will keep readers laughing throughout the twist of events. The Author’s Note and New Words to Stay sections are welcomed additions to this book as it provides useful background knowledge to this folktale. Love and Roast Chicken: A Trickster Tale from the Andes Mountains is a must have trickster tale for any school library.

Age Appropriate: 4 to 8 years-old.
This story could be used by older children as a comparison piece in traditional literature.

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Cuy tricks a fox into not eating him over and over again. He escapes from the fox by telling him that he can marry the farmers daughter and eat chicken roast everyday. The farmer laughs at him for falling for such a silly story.

This is a great read aloud trickster tale. The text and the accompaniment of illustrations and fun characters makes for a great book to read aloud to kids. The folktale is fun and Knutson adds illustrations that kids can spend ample amount of time discovering. The drawings are detailed and almost

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Monet-esk, making for a new type of illustration kids can adore.

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Cuy (who is taking the role of Br'er Rabbit in these tales - he even gets caught with a "tar" (sticky gum) baby at one point!) is very very little. And when you're very very little and there's a big fox that wants to eat you and farms that don't want you to eat their alfalfa, you have to find a way

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to survive.

Cuy survives by tricking people. He convinces Fox that the world is about to end, and that the sky is about to fall. He convinces the farmer that he's a very very small field hand. (This cracks me up every time.)

It's hilarious. ABsolutely hilarious, and the art isn't half bad either.

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In this tale, much like the Rabbit and the Coyote, a smaller animal tricks the bigger one to avoid being eaten. Here the guinea pig, twice convinces the fox the world is ending and convinces him first to hold up a rock and second to hide himself in a cave. Finally the guinea pig is captured by the

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farmer and tied up. When the fox finds the guinea pig, he convinces the fox to trade places so he can marry the farmer's daughter and eat roast chicken every night. In the end the farmer laughs at the fox who escapes and never tries to eat the guinea pig again.

The straightforward language will appeal to children. The illustrations are engaging with bold back outlines. They also extend the story and add dimension, especially the fox's perplexed expression each time before he realizes he was tricked. This story is funny and children 5 to 8 will enjoy it.

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Knutson, B. (2004). Love and roast chicken: a trickster tale from the Andes Mountains. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books.

The small guinea pig Cuy is a trickster. On several occasions, he almost becomes Tio Antonio the Fox’s dinner. However, Cuy tells Tio Antonio that if he does not release him,

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the sky will fall, the world will end in either rain or fire, or that poor Cuy will have to eat roasted chicken every day. On several occasions, Tio Antonio is fooled, but will Cuy always come out on top?

This folktale from the Andes Mountains has the motif of the clever trickster. According to the authors, a trickster tale involves a small animal that uses its brain instead of physical stature to compete with others. Interestingly, guinea pigs are part the life in the Andes.

Unlike the Raccoon’s Last Race, the trickster’s actions allow him to escape misfortune instead of experience tragedy.

This book also contains a list “new words to say.” In Andes, the Spanish is mixed with ancient languages. The authors provide a list of Spanish words with their pronunciation. The full-colored illustrations also use thick lines, space, and contrasting sizes to enhance the story. Overall Love and Roast Chicken is an amusing folktale.

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Cuy, a clever guinea pig, manages to escape three times from a hungry fox. In their final encounter, Cuy, trapped by a sticky doll and tied to a tree by a farmer, talks Tío Antonio into switching places with him. The plot moves along smoothly and is punctuated by humorous dialogue. An author's

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note includes a simple map of the region, an explanation of a trickster tale, and several sources for the story. A glossary provides a pronunciation guide for the Spanish and Quechua words incorporated into the text.

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In this trickster myth, Knutson brilliantly illustrates and tells this fameous Andean tale. She is sensitive to cultural norms in her illustrations. Additionally, she sprinkles Spanish phrases into the story. As she notes, often the fox is the subject of folk tales from this reagion of the world,

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but her love for this story with it's guinea pig protagonist is clear. Cuy, the guinea pig tricks Tio Antonio, the fox, several times and fox swears he will have his revenge. When farmer finally tricks Cuy, Cuy, in turn tricks Tio Antonio for the last time--he keeps his distance from Cuy for a long time after Cuy has him believe that the farmer will have him marrying his daughter and eating a chicken daily.

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This is a delightful romp. Although the stories are familiar (as most folktales are), Knutson makes them feel new. I was especially fond of the sprinkling of Spanish throughout. I could see how this book would serve as a great book to read to a child and introduce the idea of other places with

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other languages. The pictures are also lovely. The bright colors echo VanGogh and really invite the eye to roam through the adventure,
It's the perfect book to cuddle up with a 5 or 6 year old to read aloud.

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A trickster tale about a guinea pig who tricks the fox out of eating him. The guinea pig goes through a variety of different tricks to outwit the fox. Just when you think the guinea pig can not possibly get out of his predicament, he pulls one last trick on the fox, saving himself and putting the

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fox into big trouble.

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In this folktale a small guinea pig named Cuy is trying to escape from being eaten by Tio Antonio the fox by constantly fooling him. Cuy tricks Tio Antonio a few times throughout the story, until one day, when he finds himself becoming dinner for the fox, unless he can outsmart the fox one last

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time.
The last trick, pulled by Cuy, made the fox run away with the thought of not wanting to be fooled again, to insure that, the fox stayed away from the guinea pig for a long, long time. That is what Cuy wanted in the first place.

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I think that this tale would be great to read to a younger elementary audience maybe grades 1-3. I think that the animals of this story are really engaging for younger students and help to keep them interested throughout the story. I like the idea of using this for a cultural lesson or even just

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for story time.

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Cuy, the guinea pig keeps being interrupted by Tio Antonio the Fox, who wants to eat Cuy. But Cuy is smart and creative, and he keeps fooling the fox, even when it seems like there is no way out.

This was a cute book. I did enjoy it. I thought it was an enjoyable tale that could teach a lesson.

This tale follows Cuy, a guinea pig who must escape a fox to prevent being eaten. The story tells of several different escape plans, the best of all being at the end when Cuy is tied up by the fox. This results in Cuy managing to trick the fox into switching places with him, allowing for his safe

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escape.

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The author, Barbara Knutson, uses this story as an opportunity to introduce spanish terms into this Peruvian story, making it feel more authentic. This trickster tale delights as it is hard to believe the fox can believe the guinea pig every time!

A fun trickster folktale of a guinea pig, Cuy, who avoids being eaten time and time again by a fox by tricking him. Though Cuy is not the most honest of protagonists, his actions teach the fox to stop chasing him if he doesn't enjoy being tricked. The artwork reflects the vibrant culture of the

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book, set within the Andes Mountains of South America, and would be a great addition to a classroom bookshelf to introduce culture and the Spanish language to children.

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This was a fun book to read and reminded me of Uncle Remus stories I read as a child. This would be a good addition to sharing the different types of trickster tales.