Tuesday, March 13, 2012

How the Leopard got his Claws by Chinua Achebe - TOPIONAL


Achebe, Chinua How the Leopard got his Claws  Illustrated by Mary Grandpre  Candlewick Press, 2011.  PICTURE BOOK $16.99.  Content: PG (Animals fighting and bleeding) The Leopard was king of the jungle before the animals had claws and sharp teeth. He helped organize the animals to raise crops and build a common shelter.  Only one animal among them had teeth-Dog.  Dog doesn’t help with building the shelter, but when the rain comes he takes the shelter away from all the other animals.  When Leopard comes home, Dog fights him and Dog wins.  The other animals make Dog the new king.  Leopard goes to a blacksmith and has teeth and claws made for himself and then returns to fight Dog.  Leopard wins this time, but he asks all the animals to separate and they are no longer a community.  Dog goes to man and helps him hunt the other animals.  

This book is about an abuse of power and how coming together can give us freedom or make us slaves.  

EL (3-6), MS-OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.

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